A Year's Worth of Strange Things
by Sroloc Elbisivni
Summary: After stopping a Frost Giant invasion, Nightwalker gets stuck on Earth-16 for a year, and winds up moving into the Cave. But when she starts falling apart at the seams, she starts to question the wisdom in her decision... Takes place in the five-year gap. As canon as possible, including pairings-no OC ships. Sequel to "Stranger Things Have Happened (Not Really)."
1. Meeting the Atlantians

**Mt. Justice**

**October 24****th**

**12:24 EST**

Nightwalker hit the floor of the training room _again._ "Shit," she muttered, hauling herself to her feet.

"You did better this time," Black Canary said, standing over her. "You held out for much longer than you did at first."

"Good," Eve said, rubbing her head. "I would hate to think that I spent two weeks getting bashed up for nothing." She winced as she stood up. "What do I need to work on?"

Black Canary smiled to herself. She remembered Eve from the incident with the Frost Giants, and was pleased to have the chance to work with her again. She had been training the young woman in hand-to-hand combat ever since her return, and was very, very pleased by the progress Eve had been making. She was strong, she was respectful of her teachers, she was focused, and she took instruction and learned quickly. "You still stay on your toes, like you're expecting to fly. You need to work more on grounding yourself. And you don't guard your center, I expect since you're used to relying on your bo-staff, but you need to pay more attention to that. Your blows pack plenty of power, but you're too reluctant to strike."

Eve nodded, registering the words. She shifted her position until her feet were anchored firmly. "Like this?"

"Yes, but pull your arms in more. You need to keep your guard up in your chest. It's where you're the most vulnerable. Like this—" Black Canary walked over and showed her how to position her arms.

Eve found it easier to move with her arms tucked in. She was close to landing a blow against Black Canary when she heard the Zeta tubes whir. Ignoring it in favor of her match, she only paused to catch a glimpse of Aquaman bent over the console before twisting out of the way of a kick aimed at her midsection. There was an announcement that she didn't quite catch before she maneuvered around the ring to catch a glimpse of…

"Garth?" she gasped, stopping in her tracks. She paid for her distraction with a blow to the solar plexus that left her gasping on the floor—_again._ She muttered a few choice swear words as she got to her feet, looking at Black Canary before even thinking about taking a closer look at who had come in.

"Except for getting distracted, nice work," the older woman told her. "You're getting better at standing your ground and maintaining your guard, but you let it slip at the end. Don't do that again."

"Understood. Are we finished?"

"For now. Aquaman, good to see you."

"Greetings, Black Canary. Nightwalker. Allow me to introduce Tempest and Aquagirl, or as you already seem to know them, Garth and Tula. They have advanced greatly their studies at the Conservatory of Sorcery, and shall be joining the Team to gain some hands-on experience."

"Congratulations," Black Canary said, holding out her hand to shake. Nightwalker took the opportunity to study them both. This Garth bore some resemblance to her old friend—his black hair and facial structure were similar, and he was tall and somewhat muscular, but a bit skinnier and he dressed differently. His eyes were the main difference. While the Garth she knew had pure black eyes that always managed to look lively and humorous, this Garth seemed to have normal eyes, but with purple irises. He wore a skintight swimsuit that left his arms and most of his legs bare, dark blue armbands and belt, and a dark blue semi-vest around his neck.

The other girl, Tula, was slender, with red hair and eyes of a stunning aquamarine. She wore a yellow sleeveless top revealing her midriff and a garment around her waist like a sarong with yellow yoga socks around her ankles. Yellow fingerless gloves covered her palms and wrists. Both of them moved with a certain grace, yet clumsiness, that she had come to associate with Atlantians on land. Without the water around them, they were unused to supporting their own weight.

"It's wonderful to meet you," Eve said, holding out her own hand. She carefully extended her empathy to sense the emotional currents around them. _Ooh—how long have they been together? Some time, it seems._

"And it is wonderful to meet you," Tula said, shaking hands in response. "Is Black Canary your mentor?"

Eve chuckled. "Not exactly. I'm an—unusual case, to put it mildly. Would you like me to show you around the Cave?"

"That would be most kind of you," Garth said, smiling. He and Tula picked up their bags, and Eve grabbed her sweatshirt and tied it around her waist, leading the way to the living quarters.

"So these are the rooms. Everyone has one here, just in case, but Miss Martian, Superboy, Zatanna, and I are the only ones who stay at the Cave full time. You two have your pick of the rooms that are left."

"I will take this one," Tula said, poking her head inside the first empty room.

"And I will take the one across the hall," Garth said.

"So, how much do you two know about the Team?" Eve asked, walking into the room.

"Kaldur has told us much," Garth said. "He did not mention you, however."

"Like I said, I'm an unusual case. It's a long story. Have you two had lunch yet?"

"No."

"Neither have I, and I'm starving. Let's discuss this over food. Do you two have civvies?"

"Civvies?" Tula asked, clearly confused.

"Civilian clothing. Stuff to let you blend in with surface-dwellers."

"Yes. Our king insisted that we bring some."

"Well, I need a shower and a change of clothes. I'll meet you in the hangar in ten minutes and take you for lunch in town. Sound good?"

"Oh, yes," Tula said. "I am most eager to see what life on the surface is truly like."

Eve, halfway out of Tula's room and on the way to her own, turned around. "Have you two ever been to the surface world before?"

They exchanged looks. "Not really," Garth admitted.

Eve grinned. "This should be fun. In that case, it might be a bit longer. Do you mind if I call Kaldur and invite him? He'll be able to explain several things much better than I could."

"No, not at all," Tula said.

"All right. Ten minutes!"

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**October 24****th**

**12:45 EST**

Kaldur walked into the main room of the Cave, curious as to why Nightwalker had called him in. All she had said was that they were going out for lunch and that there was a surprise.

"Kaldur!" someone called. Kaldur turned around to see Nightwalker, dressed in a gray sweatshirt and black slacks, grinning at him. That in itself was a surprise, given that she had been avoiding any and all contact with anyone else for the past three days. Two familiar figures stood next to her.

"Tula? Garth?" he asked with surprise.

"Kaldur, meet Tempest and Aquagirl, the two newest members of the Team. I offered to take them out to lunch, and since you're friends, I thought it would be good to invite you."

"Kaldur, it is wonderful to see you," Tula said in Atlantian. "King Orrin instructed us not to inform you. He wished it to be a surprise."

"I am glad to see you as well, and pleased to know that you will be joining us here," Kaldur replied in the same language.

"Hey!" Eve complained, in English. "I'm multi-lingual, and I _still_ have no idea what you're saying. D'you mind translating for the poor, ignorant surface-dweller?"

"They were merely exchanging pleasantries," Garth informed her.

"Thank you. Can we go to lunch now, please?"

"What did you have in mind?" Kaldur asked her.

There was a glint in her eyes. "I think it's about time someone introduced you two to hamburgers."

As she shooed the newcomers towards the exit of the Cave, Kaldur caught up to her. "Eve, are you alright? You have been avoiding us all for days."

"I had a problem with my shields," she explained. "It's fixed now. Come on! I just had to go through a two-hour training session with Black Canary. I'm ravenous."

* * *

**Happy Harbor**

**October 24****th**

**13:02 EST**

The four teenagers walked down the street, talking about the Team.

"So we will be going on undercover missions?" Garth asked. He was wearing a jacket like Kaldur's that zipped up to his neck to hide his gills. Tula wore a scarf to cover her own.

"Sometimes," Eve said. "And sometimes other things. How good are you with hand-to-hand combat?"

"Not very," Garth admitted. "We mostly rely on sorcery."

"Well, you will have to learn," Kaldur told them. "It is required. Black Canary is the instructor."

"What you saw her do to me?" Eve asked with a grin. "That'll be happening to you on a regular basis. I just train extra with her because I don't have much else to do. My other abilities are pretty much under control. Which reminds me—what can you two do?"

"We have both studied at the Conservatory of Sorcery, and are versed in Atlantian magics," Tula explained. "I can manipulate water and generate electricity."

"As can I," Garth added. "I can also summon miniature storms and tidal waves."

"What about you?" Tula asked. "You promised to explain who you were."

Eve let out a long sigh. "First thing you need to know about me: I can cross universes and dimensions. There are many, many different universes, and they are all surrounded by the Void, which is a force that moves over, under, around, and through every world. I was born with the ability to move in and manipulate it. This isn't my home dimension, however. I come from an entirely different one. My job was to explore the different universes and make sure they didn't leak into one another. That's just begging for trouble right there. Anyway, I got here in June, right before the incident with the Frost Giants. You remember that?" They both nodded and she continued. "It was an invasion attempt by their leader from another dimension. I was the one who helped the League get them out of this universe and back to their own. Unfortunately, to do that, I had to throw the worlds out of alignment, and cut this universe off from the Void, from inside. That means I can't leave. I didn't tell the League this, though."

They stopped outside the diner she had been taking them to, and paused long enough in her story for them to find seats and order, Kaldur and Eve making suggestions. As soon as that was done, she returned to it.

"I didn't want to have to rely on the League for charity, so I pretended that I had left this universe for a while. In the meantime, I lived as a migrant worker. They're traveling farmworkers, often illegal immigrants from Mexico. It worked for three months. The League and Team had no idea I was still here." She shrugged at Aqualad in apology. "But two weeks ago, Batman figured it out and offered me a spot on the Team until I leave, which isn't for another six months. Even without travel through the Void, I can fly, breathe underwater, and create items out of Void stuff if there's enough of it around. I'm also a powerful empath—I can sense and control emotions. And I have limited telepathy as well. I've been training with the rest of the Team, since there isn't much else for me to do."

"That is a long story," Tula said. "So you do not have a mentor?"

"Not really. I'm the only person I've ever met who can move between dimensions, and I learned how to control my abilities a long time ago. I've just been studying with Black Canary because she's in charge of training for the Team."

The waitress brought their food over to them. They had all ordered burgers and fries, and various milkshakes. Tula and Garth were immediately distracted by either eating the burgers or pummeling the two Team members with questions about surface life.

* * *

**Guess who's ba-ack! Ha ha ha ha ha!**

**Yes, here it is, the sequel I promised you all. Like I said in my last story, I'm sticking to canon as closely as possible. I will take a little creative license in writing characters who never actually appeared in the show, but not too much. And I'll try not to bump into any established events.**

**This story will be updated every few days until I run out of ideas. Like the last one, I have several chapters written out, so I can post for quite a while without worrying about running out of space.**

**This story is more fluff than plot, so sorry if you don't like that kind of things. Pairings will be canon. As adorable as I find BirdFlash, it just won't work with this story. **

**Oh, and is anyone else having a hard time with the copy+paste method of uploading on Fanfiction?**

**Have a good however-long-until-the-next-update!**


	2. A Confrontation With a Psycho

**Mt. Justice **

**November 6****th**

**10:35 EST**

_Thud!_

Eve groaned from her all-too-familiar place on the floor of the training room. "I think I'll just stay here, thanks all the same," she said. "It seems like the safest alternative."

There was a warm chuckle from above her and a hand extended down to help her up. "You're doing remarkably well," Black Canary remarked. They were at the tail end of another intensive training session. "For someone who hasn't done any fighting in three months and never had any hand-to-hand combat training before that, you're doing incredibly, in fact. I just hope you aren't expecting to beat me anytime soon."

Eve shook her head, gulping down some water. "I know my limits. Beating _you_ in any form of combat is not in my future. Although…" she paused, choosing her words carefully. "I understand you're a trained therapist?"

"Yes, I am. Is there something you want to talk about?" Black Canary asked, pausing to look at her.

"Yes, I do, though not what you're expecting. I know that you're already putting aside a lot of time for training sessions, but I was wondering if maybe you could…well, teach me. I've already been doing some therapy in other dimensions, given my abilities, but nothing professional. I'd like to do that more often."

"You want to become a therapist?" Black Canary asked in surprise.

"Is it really that shocking? Empathy means I can tell exactly how people are feeling and exactly how screwed-up they are. I can help by cutting off the worst of the bad emotions mentally, and I do, but I know that can't be healthy. I want to learn how to do it the normal way."

"Well," Black Canary said. "That's definitely a mature approach to things."

"I am nineteen," she remarked. "I don't always act like it, but I am."

Black Canary smiled. "If you can find the time, so can I. That is, as long as you find the time to continue _these_ sessions. Let's go another round."

Eve nodded. "I want to practice that block again."

Before she could, however, the alarm went off. Eve looked up as Kaldur, Garth, Tula, M'gann, Conner, and Zatanna (who all had the day off due to teacher-parent conferences at Happy Harbor) ran into the room.

"What's happening?" Zatanna asked.

"Not sure. I think we'd better suit up, though." Eve looked at all of them. Conner and the Atlantians were already ready to go, M'gann was changing her clothes by thought, and Zatanna was speaking a spell to change to her mission clothing. "Correction: I better suit up."

"You're still wearing that trenchcoat and fedora for missions?" Zatanna asked.

"Yes. Trouble is, they're both in my room."

"Gnirb s'evE taochcnert dna arodef ereh!"

There was a rattle, and Nightwalker's costume (or as much of one as she would wear) came flying down the hall. Eve grabbed them and put them on over her sweatshirt and slacks. "Thanks, Zee!"

Batman's face appeared on the screen. "Team. Artemis, Kid Flash, Robin, and Rocket are at school. You seven will be handling this."

A picture appeared of the Happy Harbor power plant. "Psycho-Pirate has escaped from jail and is currently attacking the power plant for reasons unknown. Your mission is to stop and subdue him. Take the bio-ship. Watch out for the mask. Batman out."

"Come on," M'gann said. They all took off running or flying for the hangar.

"Who's Psycho-Pirate?" Nightwalker asked.

"He's a supervillain who uses the Medusa Mask to commit crimes," Conner said. He was angry. The last time they had fought Psycho-Pirate, he had nearly won. It had only been the timely intervention of Kid Flash that had saved them.

"And the Medusa Mask is…?"

"It allows the wearer to control emotions," Kaldur said as they reached the hangar. M'gann opened the door to the bio-ship, and they all ran inside.

The thought occurred to all of them at the same moment and they turned to face Nightwalker.

"Your powers—" M'gann said.

"Yeah." Her eyes narrowed. "This is why empathy can be so dangerous. It's not like telepathy. Emotions are primal. They fuel who you are. And a lot of the time, it's impossible to tell if you're being influenced." She took her seat, looking out the window. "Psycho-Pirate is a lunatic if he thinks he can get away with this forever. I told you how I feel every emotion I put into the world? If it's not the same for him, there's nothing holding him back."

"We fought him the last time he was in Happy Harbor," M'gann said. "It didn't work out too well."

"Last time," Nightwalker said, a small, evil smile on her face that made them all nervous. "You didn't have _me._"

**Happy Harbor**

**November 6****th**

**11:02 EST**

"Muahahahaha!" Psycho-Pirate cackled. "All of you are under my control. With what's in this power plant, I can plunge the entire Eastern Seaboard into darkness forever! All the fear, all the hopelessness—I can almost _taste_ it!"

He paused, looking down at the workers beneath him. "Oh, wait—_I can!_"

"Not for long," an unfamiliar voice called. He looked up to see the Justice League's junior brats coming towards him. It was a bit different from last time—there were only three kids he recognized. The other three were totally unfamiliar.

But they would all have problems. Ones he could use.

"So," he said, walking towards them and readying a pulse of emotion. "What do you…_fear?_" He sent it at them in a wave, expecting the usual result—they'd drop to their knees, awash in painful memories, and he'd get to gloat.

But nothing happened. There was no reaction. The teens merely continued to advance on him.

"What? No!" he said. He backed away as fast as he could, sending painful emotion after painful emotion at them. "Stop! Get away from me! How are you _doing_ this?"

"Simple, little man," came a voice from behind. He spun around to see a girl dressed in a blue trenchcoat and black fedora standing there. "You're a cheap knockoff, and I'm the real deal."

"Wh-who are y-you?" he stuttered.

She leaned in closer. "I am Nightwalker. And you are officially shut down." She punched him in the face, knocking off the mask.

Psycho-Pirate fell to the ground, groaning. Nightwalker grabbed the mask, hissed, and tossed it to M'gann.

"Keep that thing _away_ from me, please. It just feels _nasty_. What's even worse, I'm seriously tempted to use it. So the shields worked?"

"Like a charm," M'gann said. She was looking at the mask a little too intently.

Nightwalker sighed. "Could someone who possesses absolutely no psychic powers at all please take that thing away from her?"

"Etativel ksam," Zatanna said. The mask drifted out of M'gann's grasp. She looked slightly disappointed.

There was a flapping noise, and the Team looked up to see the Hawk-couple descending. "We'll take him from here," Hawk-Woman announced.

"Good work," her mate added. He took the mask and Hawk-Woman took Psycho-Pirate.

"Be very careful with that," Nightwalker warned. "That thing has a mind of it's own."

"Understood," Hawk-Man said. The two of them took off, heading most likely for Belle Reve, though Arkham would probably be a better choice. Nightwalker pulled down the emotional shields that she had put up around the Team and swore. As soon as she pulled them back into herself, she could feel all the fear and pain that idiot with the mask had been sending at them.

"Nightwalker?" Aqualad asked. "Are you alright?"

"I just need some space," she said. "I'll fly back to the mountain on my own, if that's okay." Every instinct was screaming at her to fly away, somewhere where she could break down and then collect her thoughts, but she remembered her promise to Batman. She wasn't the leader here. She had to follow orders, as much as she hated that.

"It is," Kaldur said. "Go carefully."

Nightwalker nodded and shot off, gaining altitude as fast as she could and heading for the trees.

She landed in a nice little deserted clearing, and the first thing she did was scream in pain. The second thing she did was drop into her mind to fix the mess the rogue emotions were making.

Simon, her ragebeast, was loose, and running around wrecking things. The whirlwinds of pain, anger, fury, fear, and hatred were ripping through her mind. They were all base emotions with no subtleties at all. The Medusa Mask may have granted Psycho-Pirate power, but he was an amateur at best.

The first order of business was the whirlwinds. Eve channeled the ones she could into Simon, which were the ones of anger and rage. Pain and hatred were too dangerous for that—it would make him cruel and vicious, and fear would completely defeat his purpose. She would have to deal with them differently.

As soon as she had channeled away the whirlwinds, she grabbed Simon's collar and led him back to his cage. There, she tuned out the destruction behind her, focusing on calm, watching as hair-thin green bars stretched across the entryway. It would be enough until she could meditate properly.

Eve turned back to her pain and fear. There was only one way to deal with these, and that was a direct confrontation.

That meant a change of scene.

With a thought, her usual mindset changed. She stood on the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking an ocean. The pain and fear had changed form, to sharp, dangerous rocks at the bottom of the cliff. If she had been here for real, she would have died if she had taken a single step in the wrong direction.

But this was her mind.

And she was in control.

Eve dove off the side of the cliff, free falling through the air, laughing hysterically. A thousand scenarios flashed through her mind, bringing back bad memories. But they couldn't hurt her if she didn't let them.

And she wouldn't. She let herself fall until just before she hit the rocks. They vanished as soon as she would have struck them, fleeing from her mind.

She was never exactly sure where the emotions went when she confronted them. Perhaps they merely dissipated. All she knew was that they were gone, and they didn't go to other people.

Eve returned to herself, coming out of the trance she had induced. She was currently floating in her cross-legged meditation position, and it was much darker than she remembered.

She checked her watch. It was almost six o'clock at night. There was a beeping noise coming from it. Since it had been upgraded by Robin into a communicator, that meant there was a message for her. She tapped in the sequence for it to play.

"_Eve? Hey, it's Artemis. Zatanna asked me to call. It's been about three hours since you vanished, and we're all getting kind of nervous. Come back, please."_

"_Hey, Eve, it's Zatanna. You've been gone for four hours and you aren't answering your communicator. Robin and Wally are threatening to break into your room if you aren't back soon."_

"_Eve, it is Kaldur. We are all very worried. Return to the Cave as soon as possible."_

"_Robin here. Black Canary is threatening to ground you if you aren't back by six-fifteen. She's really worried. Come back."_

"_This is Wally. You haven't pulled another vanishing act, have you? Look, if you aren't back in ten minutes, we're calling Batman."_

Eve sighed as the last message played. _Crap. I'm in trouble now._ She gained some altitude, lifting above the tree line and heading for the mountain.

**Mt. Justice**

**November 6****th**

**18:09 EST**

"Let me get this straight," Batman said, a dangerous tone in his voice. "After a confrontation with Psycho-Pirate, a man with dangerous emotional powers, the person responsible for shielding you from these emotions, who is a powerful empath herself, was in some distress. And you let her fly off alone?"

The silence was all the answer he needed. He continued, "And now she has been missing for over six hours."

There was a _whoosh_ as the door to the outside opened. "_Recognized: Nightwalker; B-one-zero."_

Nightwalker came running into the Cave. She skidded to a halt when she saw who was there.

"Where have you been?" Batman demanded, turning to face her. She stood straight, looking directly at him.

"After the confrontation with Psycho-Pirate, the negative emotions he had been projecting at the Team were all absorbed into my mind. I needed to get away and clear my head by meditating to make sure that my personal shields held and that I didn't accidentally project these negative emotions at other people. It took longer than I expected, and I had to go into a trance where I was unaware of the passing time or any messages being sent to me." She raised an eyebrow. "Or would you prefer I do it in the Cave and unconsciously project anger, hatred, and pain towards everyone in it?"

"Next time, let us know where you're going and what you plan on doing," Batman ordered, looking annoyed. He turned to leave the Cave. "Oh, and good work with the Pirate."

Robin followed after Batman, giving Nightwalker a small wave as he ran by. After the two Bats left, she turned to face the rest of the Team, a sheepish look on her face.

"Sorry. I wasn't exactly thinking clearly earlier."

"It is fine," Tula said. "You did good work with bringing down the villain."

"BC's looking for you," Wally said. "I think she's mad."

Nightwalker held back a groan, taking off her hat and coat. After all the help the older woman had given her, making her worry and causing her extra effort was the last thing she wanted to do.

"_Recognized: Black Canary; one-three."_

The Team members trailed away as the older heroine came into the room. "Eve! There you are! Are you okay? What happened?"

Eve shrugged. "I had to deal with the emotional backlash from Psycho-Pirate away from the Cave. I'm fine."

"We were worried," Black Canary said.

"I'm sorry about that. I was too deep in a trance to hear my comm."

"Are you _sure_ you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm sure. And I'm sorry for making you worry."

"I'm just glad you're okay."

Eve gave her a small smile. "Did I miss anything important?"

"Well, the entire Team started freaking out when you didn't show up, but other than that, not much."

Eve let out a sigh. "I'm sorry I made such a mess of things. I'll go apologize to them again. Thanks, Canary."

"Please," the older woman said. "Call me Dinah."

**Welcome back! I think I'll stick to an every-other-day updating schedule. It seems to work. I know that there's a confrontation of the Team with Psycho Pirate in a Free Comic Book Day comic, but I couldn't find it for a reference, so if anyone knows what happened, help me out!  
**

**Wow! Gosh, three favorites already! I feel kind of nervous now...What if you guys hate it after this? Thank you!**

**Any complaints, questions, or suggestions, please leave a review!**

**In response to the two reviews:**

**Guest 1: Clarification: I find the chemistry of BirdFlash adorable. I don't do smut.**

**Gokuson643(Guest): Oh look, do you see that? It's a little thing I put in my description called a label. It's labeled as an OC story, which means you can filter it out if you don't want to read OC stories. I'm sorry you don't like this, but you have the right to your tastes and i have the right to mine.**

**Why do people always leave bad reviews as Guests? Seriously, if you want to complain, at least do it in a way that I can communicate with you and explain any misconceptions.**

**Since I won't be updating tomorrow, happy Pi day, everyone! You know, 3.14? Go and eat some pie to celebrate!**


	3. A Movie, Dancing--Wait, What?

**Quick Warning: Contrary to what the title of this chapter may suggest, there isn't a date in this chapter.**

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**November 16****th**

**18:47 EST**

It was a Friday night, and for once, the entire Team was hanging out on the base. Dinner and dessert had both been finished some time ago, and no one was quite sure what to do.

"Anyone up for a movie?" Eve asked from a position near the ceiling. It was a long-accepted habit of hers to find the highest vantage point in the room and either perch or float there.

"Sure," Artemis said. "What were you thinking of?"

"Gimme a minute," the older girl said. She dropped to the ground and headed over to the DVD cupboard. Wally zoomed over and Robin and Artemis made their way more slowly to help her pick one.

"Hey, how about this one?" Wally asked, holding up a copy of _The Exorcist._

"No!" Eve said, immediately. She snatched it away and chucked it at the back of the cupboard. "No horror movies!"

"Oh, c'mon," he protested. "It's supposed to be really good!"

"Forgive me if sitting through a terrifying movie with a bunch of emotionally distraught teenagers isn't my idea of a good time," Eve said coolly.

"Fine, if you're so opposed to horror, how about _The Lion King?_" Artemis asked.

"_No,_" Wally and Eve both said quickly, shooting glances at Robin.

"I've never seen it," the Boy Wonder admitted.

"And you're not going to," Eve said. "Wally, back me up on this one."

"Agreed," the red-headed speedster said, grabbing the case from Artemis and tossing it to Kaldur. "Sorry, Rob, but you wouldn't like this movie."

"Is there _any_ movie in here that won't cause anyone emotional trauma?" Artemis asked.

Eve dug a little deeper until she found a familiar case. "Anyone harboring a deep-seated dislike for musicals?"

Everyone else in the room exchanged looks.

"I'm not."

"Me either."

"I have never seen a 'musical.'"

"Sounds like fun!"

"Okay, then" Eve said. "How about _The Sound of Music?_"

There were no cries of dissent, so she pulled it out. "World War Two era Austria. Nun-in-training goes to work for wealthy widower with passel of children. Rather cheesy, but quite good. All opposed?"

Still nothing.

"Okay, then." Eve pushed the movie into the player and turned on the TV.

* * *

Two hours later, they were all in the kitchen, eating ice cream and discussing the movie. They started to talk about the dance scene, and Zatanna pulled Dick onto his feet and started to waltz with him. Eve, laughing, grabbed Kaldur and joined in. Soon everyone except Rocket, who claimed that she had two left feet, was dancing. Eve did manage to pull the seated girl to her feet eventually, and taught her a simple three-step waltz.

"Girl, where did _you_ learn to dance?" Rocket asked as Eve twirled her.

"Black Canary taught me one day," Eve admitted. "Before that, I had a lot of trouble with dancing, mostly because I wasn't good at remembering the moves. But BC taught them like a drill for training, which helped them sink in. After that, it was mostly a matter of practice."

"You two sure are becoming close," Dick said, as he and Zatanna moved past. "So is she your official mentor yet?"

Eve stumbled, almost tripping Garth and Tula as she and Raquel skidded across their path. Kaldur caught Raquel as Eve found her step, and relinquished her partner. "Not exactly. I'm hardly sidekick material. She just has a lot to teach me that I want to learn."

"That is how we all started," Kaldur pointed out as he and Raquel started to dance together.

"Again, I'm not sidekick material," Eve said. She didn't say what she was really thinking, which was _I can't stay here forever._ It wasn't worth disrupting the prevalent good mood. She took a long look around the room.

Three of the couples—Garth and Tula, Robin and Zatanna, Kaldur and Rocket—were waltzing. Conner and M'gann and Wally and Artemis were slow-dancing in separate corners.

Eve quickly pulled up the Cave systems and put on a slow, romantic tune, leaving them all to their own devices. As she left the room, feeling lonely, her romantic thoughts didn't wander to Ellen, as they usually did, but to her Garth, the one who was more than millions of miles away.

Eve resolutely shoved these thoughts away and grabbed a blanket before wandering up to the top of the mountain and finding a good place to sit and watch the stars. Right now, being alone sounded pretty good.

She wasn't sure exactly how long she was up there when she heard footsteps.

"Hey."

Eve tipped her head over her back, looking at Robin upside down. "Hey, Rob."

He sat down next to her, and she passed him part of the blanket since she could see him shivering.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked. "Besides attempting to contract hypothermia?"

"The cold never bothered me much anyway," she said. "And stargazing, mostly. You wanted something?"

"A favor," he said. "Or a mission. You could look at it both ways."

"Something to do with Dick Grayson?" she asked. "Otherwise you would probably ask someone else."

"Yes," Dick muttered. "There's a…banquet…coming up. Bruce Wayne is hosting it. It's like a pre-Thanksgiving deal. It's a fundraiser."

"And why do I need to know about it?"

"Because I'm asking you to come."

There was a long pause. "Why?" she finally asked. "I thought Bats had a thing against mu—metas in his city. Will he even allow it?"

"It was his idea."

There was an even longer pause, and Dick had a hard time keeping from bursting out laughing at the look on Eve's face. "Oh," she finally said. "Okay then, why?"

"Because there are going to be some slightly shady people at this thing and he thinks that you might be able to 'read' them, and find anyone who might cause trouble or have underhanded dealings. Plus, it gets _really_ boring at these things. And you can waltz, which apparently will be required this year."

"I have horrible table manners," she pointed out.

"So do half the other people at these things. And you're better than Wally."

She chuckled. "True enough. Why not tell Zatanna and ask her as a date?"

"I'm…waiting."

"For what? Do you still not trust them?"

"It's complicated."

"Then explain."

Dick sighed as he looked out at the night ocean. "They know me as Robin, and they just accept me. Wally's the only one who really knows. And—I'm comfortable being Robin. I know who Robin is. Dick Grayson? Who's that? Sometimes I'm not sure whether it's Dick wearing the Robin persona, or the other way around. It feels like Dick Grayson died seven years ago. I don't know if I want to go back to being Dick. I don't know if I can."

There was a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I get what you're going through. _Believe _me, I do. For three years, I tried to bury Eve. As far as I was concerned, she had died. She had no place in the world anymore I just wanted to be someone new. So I became Nightwalker."

Dick looked at her. He had never heard her talk like this before. "You still are," he said, quietly.

"The thing is, Dick?" she said. "It doesn't work. I found that out a while ago. You can work as hard as you want to bury yourself, it won't last forever."

"What happened?" he asked.

Eve looked away. "I met Garth. He was different than anyone else. I had a clean slate with him, and he wanted to know _me._ He wanted to know Eve as a person. Not just as a hero, though since it was a part of who I was, he wanted to know that as well. He helped me see Nightwalker as a part of me, and not as something all-encompassing." She looked back at him. "Zatanna helps you feel that way, doesn't she? Like she sees you, all of you, and not only accepts it, but appreciates it."

Dick smiled. "Yeah. But…what we do, it's dangerous. I don't want her to get hurt, or her worrying about me getting hurt, or…"

"Or this, or that, or, or, or. No life without risk, Dick. And look at it this way. Would you rather date a swooning, helpless girl, or someone like Zatanna who can and will defend herself if she has to?"

He was silent as he considered this. Eve shrugged. "I won't pressure you into telling them, and I won't tell them myself. But you can't be Robin forever, Dick. You're growing up, and growing out of Robin. You need to figure out who and what else you are. If Zatanna can help you do that, well…" she smiled. "Then either you follow through with her, or I follow through on my threat to find a closet and lock you two in it together."

"So, will you come to the banquet?"

"I have no dress, no manners, and no class," Eve deadpanned. She grinned. "Of course I'll come. And as a bonus, I'll scan the guests and let you know which ones are harboring murderous intentions."

"All of them, probably," Robin admitted. "Thanks. It's tomorrow."

She sat bolt upright and scowled at him.

"I'm sure Black Canary could help you find something," Robin said in a falsely cheerful tone.

"I hate you sometimes," Eve grumbled. "And thanks. Is there anything else I need to know? Dress code? Food? Touchy guests? A backstory?"

"Black tie, salmon's probably the main course, and I figure that you can handle touchy guests." He pulled out a flash drive. "Oh, and this is you."

Eve glared at him, before snatching the flash drive and muttering something about 'Bats and their damn crazy ways.' She grabbed the blanket and stalked away, continuing a stream of language even worse than that.

"You better not say anything like that tomorrow!" he called at her.

She called back with a highly creative suggestion that would have caused Alfred to wash her mouth out with soap.

Twice.

* * *

**So, yes. This one was rather short and the next one will be as well. This ball thing will either be a three or four-shot, depending on whether or not I squash a couple of sections together.**

**Thanks to everyone who's reading this! You are all wonderful people!**

**And thank you to xemidemon for reviewing, favoriting, and following!**

**Next chapter should be up in two days. Review, please!**


	4. Torture Through Shopping

**Mt. Justice**

**November 17****th**

**7:06 EST**

Wally ran into the kitchen to find a pleasant surprise—blueberry muffins steaming in a pile on the table. Well, two piles, actually—the larger one with his name on it.

Actually, his name was in a note on the table next to it threatening gruel for a month if he touched the pile for the Team. Since the stack set aside for him was of monumental proportions, he actually had no objections.

After devouring everything but the plate (which looked pretty tasty with blueberry stains on it) he went looking for Eve. Everyone had stayed over at the Cave last night, not really being inclined to Zeta home. She had disappeared sometime after the dancing had started, and Dick had vanished shortly after that. Past that, he hadn't really noticed, because Artemis had dragged him off to a little storage closet…

Ahem. Moving on.

Anyway, the point was that something must have happened, and he wanted to know what.

A quick zoom around the library, music room (who knew they had one of those?) game room (ditto, but cool!) and other recreational rooms revealed nothing. He knew better than to run through the resident rooms after the last time he did that and got chewed out by several majorly pissed late sleepers.

It was a bit of a surprise when he found Eve in the mission room, examining several holographic files.

"Hey, Wally," she said with a wave. "I actually kind of wanted to talk to you."

Wally zoomed over. He had been apprehensive about the strange girl at their first meeting, but had quickly developed a friendship with her. It sorta bugged him that she was a full three inches taller than him.

"So whatcha workin on?" he asked, leaning in. It showed several buildings in Spain.

"Memorizing a false persona for tonight," she said, manipulating the screens.

"What's tonight?" he asked.

"Bruce Wayne's annual charity banquet. I have been invited to attend, since I can empathically read his guests for any sign of trouble, and also since you and I are the only ones in on the secret and you have horrible table manners."

"They aren't _that_ bad!" he protested.

Eve glanced up from the screen she was reading and shot him a _look._

"Okay, _maybe_ they are," he admitted grudgingly.

There was a yawn, and Raquel walked in, munching a muffin. "What are you two doing?"

"I'm studying and he's annoying me," Eve said.

"And _why_ are you studying? You don't go to school anymore. Do we have a case I didn't know about?"

"This is more like a favor," Eve said. She swiped, pulling up a fresh page. "Quick undercover job. Solo gig. One night. No biggie."

"What is it?" Raquel asked.

Eve spun a hologram around to show her a picture. "Bruce Wayne's throwing his annual charity ball tonight. Last year, some of his personal items went missing during the banquet. The thief was never caught, but it's assumed that he'll return this year. I'm supposed to blend in and keep empathic tabs on people to try and find out who it is, as well as just keeping a general watch for any trouble."

"Why?" Raquel asked. "I mean, can't this Bruce guy get a cop or something?"

"Wayne's friends with Batman," Wally said, reading the file.

"Since M'gann won't exactly blend in, and since I'm the closest thing to a telepath we've got besides her, I'm going."

"So you're going to a fancy black-tie event?" Raquel asked. She shot a pointed look at Eve's slacks and sweatshirt. "In that?"

Eve groaned. "Apparently, I have to wear a dress."

"Do you even own a dress?" Wally asked.

Eve sent him a glare that could rival Batman's and muttered something along the lines of "No."

"Girl, we have _got_ to take you shopping," Raquel said, her eyes lighting up. "I'll get M'gann and Zee to come along."

Eve groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Please tell me there's a way to flee the country. Or disable a tracker."

"Disable a tracker?" Wally asked.

"Blame Bats. He stuck one in my neck."

"Whoa, whoa, wait—the dude has a tracker in your neck and can find you at any time, but he flipped out at us when you went missing?" Wally demanded. "Why?"

"I think he just likes to yell at you sometimes," Eve said. She sent another glare at Raquel. "I'm not going dress shopping."

M'gann flew into the room. "Dress shopping? Who's going dress shopping? Can I come?"

"You? In a dress?" Artemis asked, coming up behind Wally. "Oh, this I have _got_ to see." She gave Wally a quick peck on the cheek. "Morning, Baywatch."

Zatanna came strolling into the room. "What's everyone doing in here?"

"Cornering Eve," Wally said casually. "Block the exits in case she tries to make a run for it."

"Why?" Zatanna asked.

"We're taking her dress shopping," M'gann said excitedly.

Zatanna gave a wicked grin. "Oh, this is too good to miss. Egac evE."

A glowing cage appeared around Eve. "A cage? Seriously?" the other girl demanded, rapping on the bars. "Isn't this a bit overkill?"

"Maybe," Zatanna admitted. "Egac hsinav."

The cage disappeared, and Eve immediately shot up into the rafters. "I am not coming down until eleven. Then you can drag me off to go shopping. Deal?" she called.

"Fine," Zatanna said.

"M'gann, can you send up the flash drive? I'm not done reading!"

* * *

**New York**

**November 17****th**

**11:34 EST**

"How the hell did I let you talk me into this?" Eve demanded. They stood on Madison Avenue, the weak November sun shining down on them. Even though it was a week before Thanksgiving, people were already starting to fill the city.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy," Zatanna said. "Come on, you must have shopped for a dress before."

"Yes, at Goodwill. Not at boutiques!"

"It'll be fun!" M'gann said. "Come on!"

Three stores and several near-disasters later, the group walked into a small boutique just off Madison Avenue. An overly perky clerk bounced up to them.

"Can I help you with anything?" she asked in a voice that sounded like she had too much sugar.

"We are looking for an evening dress for our friend here," M'gann said. She gestured at Eve, who was making a futile attempt to hide.

"I see," the clerk said. "Any preferences?"

"Something that isn't entirely sleeveless. Nothing too revealing, but nothing too childish either. And blue, hopefully."

Five minutes later, Eve stood in a dressing room. She was wearing a blue cap-sleeved V-neck gown covered with sparkling blue sequins. The back was joined around the neck and at a strap around the waist, leaving much of it uncovered.

It was beautiful.

"Well?" came a chorus from outside. Eve sighed, but stepped out and gave a little twirl to show off the dress.

"Satisfied?" she asked. "Is the torture-Eve-through-shopping deal done yet?"

There were no answers. She turned around to see that half of the female members of the Team had open mouths, and the rest were wearing enormous grins.

"Get that," Artemis said. "Don't even bother looking for anything else. Get _that._"

"Absolutely," Zatanna said. She was grinning.

"Girl, you will knock them _dead_ in that outfit," Rocket said, managing to close her mouth enough to talk.

M'gann, who had her hands clasped together, just nodded enthusiastically.

"Good. Then are we done here?" As much as Eve hated to admit it, she liked the way the dress made her feel. Pretty, special, important…

_Shallow,_ she scolded herself. _Save it for later, if ever._

Eve stepped back into the dressing room and quickly changed back into her regular clothes. She came out and handed to dress to the saleswoman. "Could you ring that up, please?"

"Of course, miss," the woman said. She took the dress out of Eve's hands and put it in a garment bag. "Will there be anything else?"

Eve shot a look at the other girls. "See anything you like?'

They shook their heads, and Eve handed over the credit card that Robin had given her. "Just the dress, please."

"Yes, miss."

A few minutes later, they were walking back to the New York Zeta tube.

"Well?" Zatanna asked. "Did you have fun?"

They stopped in front of the Zeta tube, which was disguised as an old newspaper stand. Eve turned back to them, a poisonous look on her face.

"If you _ever_," she began, giving them all a glare that Batman would envy. "drag me on another _shopping trip,_ I will give you all your worst nightmares every time you shut your eyes for the rest of your lives." With that, she turned and stalked through the door into the stand.

"_Recognized: Nightwalker: B-one-zero."_

"I think she had fun," Zatanna said cheerfully to the others.

* * *

**This chappie was mostly fun fluff for me to write. Eve in this chapter is based on a friend of mine who hates shopping with a passion. Next (two?) chapters will be the ball itself.  
**

**Major thanks to piggythelaw, who reviewed every chapter! And thanks also go to cassielnunes. Here's the update you asked for!**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm not entirely thrilled with it, but I just struggled through finishing a major project I have due tomorrow that still isn't done. I wanted to post this so I could stay on schedule, but I didn't have a ton of time to edit. So hopefully it's okay.**

**Happy St. Patrick's Day! For once, I did not have to suffer through a meal of corned beef and cabbage. So why am I slightly disappointed?**

**See you in two days for the next update. Review, please! They are always, always welcome!**


	5. Charity Banquet, Part 1

**Batcave**

**November 17****th**

**18:35 EST**

"_Recognized: Nightwalker: B-one-zero."_

Dick Grayson looked up from the book he was reading. For the occasion, Eve had been given temporary permission to Zeta into the Batcave. He was dressed in his "monkey suit," as he liked to call his fitted tuxedo. Since this was one of the richest parties of the year, it was specially designed to be bullet-resistant and as comfortable to move in as his civvies, in case of trouble.

"Eve!" he said, jumping to his feet. "It's about time you—whoa."

Eve looked surprisingly _good._ Her hair was twisted up into a bun on the back of her head and impaled with two long hairpins, a few tendrils curling down. Someone had apparently applied makeup, because there was blush, eyeliner, and lipstick augmenting her features. She was wearing a long, dark blue dress covered with sequins and a lacy matching blue jacket.

Everything about her looked good, in fact, except for the scowl on her face.

"Satisfactory?" she asked.

"Asterous. But would it kill you to smile?"

"Maybe," she said, plastering one on her features anyway. "Are we going up?"

"You got your cover memorized?" he asked.

"Kaitlyn Woodhouse, daughter of Pete Woodhouse, owner of a lucrative chain of restaurants. Studied literature abroad in Spain for two years. Recently returned to the US. Since our "fathers" are well acquainted, I am accompanying you to Wayne's banquet tonight, after which I will resume the life of a solitary recluse or possibly be killed off in a spectacular accident. That or go to jail for murdering you as a result of being put through this."

"Yeah, good luck with that. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. You _so_ owe me for this."

He cackled. "Who knows? You might have fun."

Eve let out a sigh. "Who knows?" she echoed. "I'll try." With that, her tense body language visibly relaxed, and her smile became slightly more genuine. "Just don't spike my drink." With that, she held out her arm for him to escort her.

* * *

**Wayne Manor**

**November 17****th**

**18:40 EDT**

Bruce Wayne stood at the entrance to the ballroom, welcoming his guests. It was a cold, clear night outside, displaying the beautiful November sky. He was idly wondering when Dick would show up with his guest.

As suspicious as he had been of her at first, Wayne had to admit that Eve was starting to grow on him. All of the reports from Black Canary and other members of the Team had been favorable—so much so that it had been she, not one of the Martians, who had been his first choice for a mole among the guests. Especially since, unlike the Martians, she apparently had to make very little effort to read the emotions of others.

The fact that she was on good terms with Dick had made him skeptical at first, but as he considered it, he was just pleased that his ward was able to make friends. It certainly helped her case that Dick's number of nightmares had substantially decreased.

"Mr. Wayne!"

Bruce looked up to see Eve and Dick making their way towards him. "Kaitlyn, hello!" he said. "How's your father?"

She let out a giggle as he took her hand and kissed it. "Oh, Daddy's fine. It's so nice to see you again, Mr. Wayne. How are you?"

"Quite well. And you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Very pleased to be back in the States. Spain was lovely, but a bit too much work for my taste," she simpered. Somehow, she had managed to raise her normally low voice an octave or so. "And it is a pleasure to be attending one of your galas. Daddy wouldn't let me come before. I don't see why. I was a year older than Richie here before I left." She squeezed Dick's arm. He looked mortified.

Bruce chuckled. "Well, I'm sure he had his reasons. Dick, how about you and Kaitlyn dance a little?"

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" 'Kaitlyn' exclaimed. "Come, Richie, let's dance." She dragged him off to the dance floor as he shot Bruce a look that was clearly a cry for help. Bruce just allowed himself another small chuckle before turning back to the next guest.

* * *

Dick and Eve waltzed across the dance floor along with several other couples. They chatted aloud about polite nothings, while carrying on their real conversation in a telepathic link.

_:Richie? Seriously? You know, you're a little too good at this.:_

_:Just staying in character. I still don't approve of calling you 'Dick.' 'Sides, I gotta have _some_ fun here. I'll probably have to deal with every scumbag in here to get a good lock on whoever Bruce wants me to spot.:_

_:Well, you've got three hours. What are you looking for, anyway?:_

Eve opened a mental link that showed her empathic awareness of the room. It was like looking at a topographical map, with each emotion displaying a different sensation. He examined each one, unsure of what they were.

_:Which one's which?:_

_:See that gritty, grainy stuff that almost everyone in here 'feels' like? That's pettiness. Hardly unusual for this crowd. The sliminess is deceit. That's what most people feel like when they lie. The smooth, pliable feeling is satisfaction. Fairly neutral and common. Those people hanging over by the punch bowl are uncomfortable. See how it feels rough? It's all fairly interesting. I'm keeping an 'eye' on the deceit crowd, and looking for anything too sharp or hard, since that usually means anger, hatred or fear, all of which would be bad. Once I've got it narrowed down to the people giving off the worst vibes, I'll try and get closer to them. Maybe dance with them, try and get a reading on their thoughts. At the very least, I'll be able to give Bruce a list of possible suspects. Oops.:_ She spun the field of emotions around in her head, causing Dick to stumble as he tried to keep his bearings. _:Angry girl incoming.:_ The emotional field moving toward them was hot to the mental "touch," as well as sharp. There was an undertone of iciness and a strange feeling that was blunt on the outside, but sharper than sight inside. _:So…anger, icy fury, sorrow, and a teeny bit of heartbreak, but she's mostly over it. Ex-girlfriend?: _A pause. _:Look alive and prepare for confrontation. We should probably take this off the dance floor.:_

"Dick?" a voice asked. Dick turned around to see Barbara Gordon.

"Barbara?" he said, rather surprised. "What—"

"Oh, _Barbara!"_ Eve gushed. "Richie here was telling me all about you. We simply _must_ chat. I'm fairly certain I saw a lovely balcony over this way…"

With that, Eve grabbed both of their arms in a grip that was far stronger than it looked and started to usher them both of the dance floor, chattering away.

"I'm Kaitlyn, by the way, Kaitlyn Woodhouse, but you _must_ call me Katie. I've been studying abroad in Spain, which is why I must never have seen you before. I'm sure I would have remembered such gorgeous hair! I love your dress, where _did_ you get it? I'm here tonight because Daddy and Mr. Wayne are such good friends." Fortunately they had reached the patio by now, so Eve let them go and shut the doors, shivering.

"There!" she said. Her voice had dropped to a husky alto instead of her former light soprano. "Now we can talk. Sorry about that, let's try this again." She held out her hand. "I'm Eve, but call me Kaitlyn for tonight. Kind of undercover."

Barbara tentatively held out her hand. "I'm…Barbara. But you knew that."

Eve smiled and shook hands. "Sort of. Dick told me about you earlier. I'm a friend of Mr. Wayne's. I'm also an expert in body language. I'm supposed to be keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble tonight, as a favor."

Barbara shivered. She was wearing a thin, short-sleeved green dress. "I assume that's why you dragged us out onto a freezing cold balcony?"

"Yeah," Robin said. "And Eve, it's okay. You can show her."

"Really?" Eve asked. "Oh, that's good. Barbara, please disregard everything I just said." She placed a hand on Barbara's shoulder and a voice spoke in her mind.

_:I can't read body language to save my life, but I have…other talents.:_

Barbara jerked away from her, and the other girl held up her hands in a non-threatening position. "Relax. It only works when I'm touching you. My strongest gift is empathy, reading the emotions of others."

"Oh," Barbara said. That didn't really make her any less nervous. "Are you reading mine?"

Eve shook her head. "Not at the moment. I'm mostly watching the other guests. It seems rather rude to me. Just a heads-up, because I have to act very petty if I want this to work, and I don't want you to hate me."

"But you don't care if _I_ hate you?" Dick asked sardonically.

She snorted. "You're the one that dragged me into this. I plan on making your life a misery for as long as possible."

Barbara chuckled. "I think I like you."

Eve grinned. "Oh, good! Then we can be friends. That is, if Wayne ever lets me come back." She made a face. "Tonight is out of the ordinary. I don't think he likes me."

"Hey, he likes you fine!" Dick protested. "It's me you need to worry about. If you call me Richie again—"

"You will be forced to do nothing and hold in your anger and annoyance until you can kick my butt in a training fight," she said, easily. "We better make a reappearance. Barbara, I'll hand him off to you after another dance." With that, she grabbed Dick's arm and dragged him inside.

Barbara stood on the balcony, shaking her head. She had known about Dick's double life for some time, as well as the strange people he associated with. She had met Wally, after all. But this girl was different. She could tell that there was a story there. Hopefully Dick would tell it to her later.

Or else.

* * *

Eve and Dick twirled around the dance floor.

_:Lead left. Get closer to that group.:_

Dick moved across the floor, finding an opening near the group she indicated.

_:This is it,:_ she confirmed. She showed him a flash of the empathic field around them. They were definitely slimy, and there was a cold, sharp, slippery feeling as well, one he didn't like at all. _:Those are your suspects. I'll try and dance with them and figure out who the most likely one is.:_

_:Good luck.: _Dick told her. He kept up with her till the end of the song before letting her go.

"I suppose you're going to go find that Barbara girl now, are you?" she said in lofty tones.

"Yes, actually. Thank you for the dance. Good-bye." He turned and walked away.

There was a loud sniff from behind him, and a wave of good feeling was sent at him. Dick chuckled and went off to find Babs, leaving Eve to her own devices.

* * *

**So there we go! Meet Babs. I don't know how large a part she will play in this story…I won't be shipping her with Dick, though. While I think they would make a good couple, and am happy to ship them in the comics or other media, I love Chalant too much.**

**Quickie side note: "Stranger Things Have Happened" has had OVER 3,000 HITS! HOLY CRAP! THANK YOU ALL!**

**And a special thanks to piggythelaw for reviewing! **

**Oh, and I just realized something: I TOTALLY FORGOT TO DO WALLY'S 18****TH**** BIRTHDAY! AAAHHH!**

**I might write a chapter for that and post it after I finish this arc, but it all depends on whether or not I get an idea. If you have an idea, let me know!**

**As always, review, please! I won't hold this story hostage for reviews, but they make me happy and help me write.**

**Oh, and check out the new chapter I posted for "The Girl in the Fedora" if you haven't already. **


	6. Charity Banquet, Part 2

**Wayne Manor**

**November 17****th**

**19:24 EDT**

Eve sashayed across the floor looking as put out and pouty as she could manage. There was a rush of lust from the group next to her and she readied herself.

"My dear?" a voice asked. She turned to see a handsome man in his thirties approaching him. His empathic signature was…distasteful, to put it as politely as possible. She was surprised that not everyone could feel the wave of creepiness radiating off this guy. As a looker, he wasn't bad. He wore a fancy suit with an African-print tie clipped with a lovely cats-eye gem. He bowed slightly, the perfect gentleman.

"Thomas Blake. I don't believe we've met before."

'Kaitlyn' fluttered her eyelashes and held out her hand to be kissed. He did not disappoint. "Kaitlyn Woodhouse. I don't believe so either. I'm _sure_ I would have remembered such a _handsome_ man." She fluttered her eyelashes at him while surreptitiously checking his mind. She had discovered through experimentation that she could read surface thoughts without the person noticing, even if they were a telepath themselves, but sifting deeper risked being noticed. She would have to talk with him and try and convince the memories to reach the surface. _Ask me to dance, you bastard, so I can get this over with,_ she thought to herself, not sending it across the currently initiated psychic link. Eve didn't want to do this any longer than necessary. He looked like a groper.

The two of them waltzed across the dance floor. He was graceful, and very strong. He kept sniffing the air, as though looking for something.

"No perfume?" he asked Eve as they twirled.

She pouted, keeping up the persona. "Daddy won't let me. He claims it encourages 'wild' behavior." She gave him a mysterious smile and moved closer. "Not that I need any encouragement."

"Well, nothing wrong with a little wildness at times," he said, winking at her. Eve held back a shudder as she got an echo of his thoughts. _I'm going to kill Dick for this._

"So," she murmured flirtatiously. "Come here often?"

Blake chuckled. "Mr. Wayne and I are friends, yes. I was here last year, in fact."

She let him twirl her, and they returned to their steps. "Did you come away with anything…special?"

He smiled at her. "Oh, a few things here and there." An image surfaced in his mind that Eve caught. It showed an enormous, finely engraved cats-eye gem in several different settings—on display in a museum case, then on a setting of velvet, then in his hands, and finally in a mirrored case in his home. _Gotcha._

Unfortunately, she had let her attention slip and he had moved over to a shadowed corner leading into a hallway. Displaying great strength, he grabbed her closer and pulled her into it, toying with the strap of her dress.

"So," he murmured, imitating her earlier tone. "Care to show me that 'wild side' of yours?" He jammed his mouth on hers before she could scream, using his strong arms to pull her far too close.

Enough was enough. She opened up her empathy and sent a wave of fear, panic, and deadly anger at Dick. _Help!_

* * *

Dick was chatting with Barbara when a wave of furious emotions crashed into him. He staggered and looked around. Where was Eve?

He slipped on his sunglasses, specially made to see in the dark, and looked around. He didn't see her anywhere….

_Wait! There!_

She was in a corner, struggling against an older man who had a strong grip on her.

"Come on!" he told Barbara. "Eve's in trouble."

Dick ran over to the corner and aimed a kick at the man's back. He loosened his grip, and Eve managed to duck out of it, aiming a kick of her own at a highly sensitive area. The man squeaked and fell forward, clutching his groin.

"Oooh," Dick winced. "That's gotta hurt."

Eve turned on Dick. Her eyes were flashing in their dark gray thundercloud mode. "He's your man. The gem he stole is at his house. You can get a search warrant by linking him to the trade of illegal furs from Africa. He's also Catman. Is that enough?"

Dick was entering the information on his wrist computer. "Huh? Yeah, we can work with that."

"Good." Suddenly, she was right in his face, looking totally pissed off and very, very dangerous.

"Dick Grayson," she said in a low voice. "You. Owe. Me. Big-time. And I am never doing this again." With that, she turned and stalked off to the library, presumably to teleport home from the Batcave.

Dick turned to Barbara. "She's mad, right?"

In his defense, Babs had only got the punch to his face in because he wasn't expecting it.

* * *

As Bruce was talking to the Mayor, he noticed a slight commotion from the corner. Barbara came stalking out of the shadows. Narrowing his eyes, he could see Dick crouched over a shadowy figure. Excusing himself, he walked over.

"Well?" he asked.

"It's Blake. He's our guy, according to Nightwalker. He tried to seduce her so she got my attention and I knocked him out. She left. She's really angry, apparently. He was trying to grope her when I got over here."

Bruce noticed that Dick was holding his nose. "What happened to you?"

"Babs punched me. Said something about my being 'insensitive.' She's mad at me too, apparently."

Bruce sighed. "You can be excused. I doubt anyone will notice. I'll take care of Blake." There was more than a hint of venom in his voice. He had never liked Blake, but finding that he had tried to assault a girl half his age? Even though he knew that Nightwalker had been in a persona, Bruce Wayne was not pleased. Blake would definitely be receiving a visit from the Batman.

**Mt. Justice**

**November 17****th**

**19:37 EDT**

"_Recognized: Nightwalker; B-one-zero."_

Zatanna and M'gann, who had been sitting around the Cave waiting for Nightwalker to get back, jumped to their feet. The Atlantians had gone to Shayeris for a visit and every other Team member was with their families, so they were the only ones in the Cave.

"You're back!" M'gann said, delighted. She flew over to Nightwalker, who was stalking out of the Zeta tubes. She was shocked when the other girl audibly snarled at them.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said through clenched teeth. "A _long _shower. I need some space right now."

She stomped away towards the residence rooms, fury obvious in her every step.

"I…don't think it went well," Zatanna said.

**I know, I know, short chapter. Sorry.**

**This arc is just about finished. There is one more chapter involving the aftermath, and then it's wrapped up. If I can write a birthday for Wally, I'll throw it in after that, but I have no inspiration for that at the moment, so it's doubtful.**

**Thanks to piggythelaw for reviewing so faithfully. Eve is indeed an excellent actor. And well, one of Eve's good friends is another version of Barbara Gordon (Who will show up next chapter, actually! Minor role, though.) so I assume she gets along well with most versions of Babs.  
**

**Tomorrow, I go to see "Man of la Mancha." Should be fun.**

**Honestly, I am not very happy with this chapter. Except for the part where Babs punches Dick. He deserved it.**

**Oh, and Catman is a real character. He seemed kind of like a sleaze, so I made him an even bigger one. **

**Review! Review! I beg of you, REVIEW! And let me know if you have any ideas for Wally's birthday!**


	7. Aftermath

**Mt. Justice**

**November 17****th**

**19:32 EDT**

Nightwalker let out a muffled scream of fury as she punched the wall. Simon would be loose in her mind palace right now, but she didn't care. She punched the wall again, ignoring her sore knuckles.

Eve stripped off the dress, heels, and hose the other girls had insisted she wear, dumping them on the bed. She would incinerate the dress in the morning. She never wanted to see it again.

Throwing on a loose robe, Eve made her way to the bathroom, turning off the lights and getting in the shower. Showering in the dark was a habit of hers, one that helped her think.

Gods above and below, she felt _filthy._ Letting that—that _thing_ touch her felt nasty. Leaning against the side of the stall and letting hot water run down her face, she freely indulged in every curse word she new, even the ones she barely ever said.

That helped, and so did the water. She let it wash her clean, releasing the pent-up anger and sorting through it.

The question she asked herself was the same one every time.

_Why am I angry?_

_I'm angry at Blake. How dare he!_

_He dared because I encouraged him. I had to. It was my job. I didn't expect it to go so far. I just needed the information. _

_I tried to use him and he tried to use me. I looked at him, and I saw…_

…_Me…Or rather, what I could become._

_I tried to use him just like he would have used me._

_Guess that's what I deserve. I hate being used. I hate trying to use other people. I forgot that. I got caught up in the thrill. And I learned my lesson._

_I am never doing that again. If I do…I think I would come to hate myself. I already do._

_That_ thought shocked her out of her stupor. She dropped into her mind and found the poisonous little vine twining through it. Eve grabbed the root of her self-hate, ripped it up, and pulled it out.

She turned back to Simon. Thinking through her anger allowed her to tame it and bring it under control. Simon was now a meek little thing the size of a Chihuahua. With a sigh, Eve picked him up and carried him back to his cubicle, allowing her newfound calm to form a solid green wall over it.

_That should hold._

With that done, Eve returned to consciousness and finished her shower. After she had dried off, she returned to her room and changed into a t-shirt and yoga pants. There was a soft knock on her door, and the footsteps hurrying away. Eve opened the door to find a plate of cookies and a note.

_I made you some cookies. I'm sorry the evening didn't go well. I hope you feel better in the morning._

—_M'gann _

Eve let out a small smile, touched at the girl's actions. "Thank you, M'gann," she said aloud, hoping the other girl could hear her.

She went back inside and sat on her bed, settling in with the cookies and eating two. She still felt restless, though, and knew that no amount of sugar would calm her down.

_I believe a swim is in order._

* * *

Eve made her way to the fortunately empty hanger and descended into the lake, letting her lungs make the switch from water to air. She dove deeper, making her way to the outside.

The water in mid-November was freezing. Even with the Void energy of her body negating most of the temperature, she was still cold. The water did much to soothe her, though, even more than the shower. She used firm strokes to cut her way through the water, not really focused on moving quickly, just on moving.

Eve eventually found herself floating at the drop-off point, where the continental shelf ended, replaced by deep ocean. It was very, very dark. The moonlight did little to cut through fifty feet of water.

With a sigh, Eve sat down, settling herself on the edge. She didn't really have anything to do but think, but she didn't really want to think about what was currently on her mind.

_I haven't checked in on the Void in a while. _

Dropping into a meditative state, Eve focused on the peculiar nowhere. It was moving a bit slower than it had been in October—which was a pity, but she hadn't expected it to last as long as it had.

_So it'll be until April, it looks like. Well, worst case scenario, I'm stuck here till June, so who knows? The currents may pick up. Till then, there are worse places to be._

With that, Eve used her flight to propel herself back to the mountain, coming out in the lake. She gasped as the air it her soaking-wet, very cold clothes.

_Another hot shower sounds wonderful at this point. _

* * *

**Mt. Justice **

**November 17****th**

**10:02 EDT**

Eve fell into her dreams, drifting in the Void as usual. Since she had no real purpose, and Garth had been unavailable for a week, she figured that she might as well float and take the chance to rest. There was a 'tug' on one of her psychic links, however, meaning that the person on the other end wanted to talk to her. Eve followed that tug, coming out in Oracle's living room.

The passive dimension crosser was sitting in her living room, waiting for her.

"Hello, Eve."

"Hi, Barbara." Eve didn't have to ask what this was about. After the party earlier this evening, she knew exactly why Oracle would want to see her. "I take it you were watching?"

"Yes. I've never tried to find one of my other-dimension selves before. I didn't want to know. But her—she's happy. She's safe. And she's living the life I should be living—the life we were supposed to live."

"Do you resent her?" Eve asked quietly.

"What? No, I don't resent her. I'm slightly envious, but mostly, I want to protect her. I don't want her to walk—or rather, not walk—the same painful path that I have." The girl gestured at her wheelchair. "She deserves that life. Eve, I know you're going to be there for a while, so I'm asking you, as a friend, _please_ protect her. Don't let this happen to her."

There was a gentle hand on her knee and Barbara looked up to see Eve looking at her with a serious expression on her face.

"I understand, Barbara. And I swear to you on my powers, my connection to the Void, and everything I hold dear, that I will do anything and everything to protect her for as long as I am able."

The two women stood there in silence for a moment before Eve moved to the couch. "So. How's life going for you? I assume you've been checking in on me, but I haven't been able to visit you."

"Life is actually going quite well. I've got a job at Wayne Industries, one that lets me work from here. And…well…" she blushed, and Eve grinned.

"I knew it! Who is he?"

"This world's Dick Grayson. He's a lawyer. He's the one who helped get my contract hammered out fairly, and he started stopping by to see if I needed anything. Not damsel-in-distress stuff, just friendly, gentlemanly things." She gave a soft smile that hardly anyone ever saw. "I think there's some serious potential there."

"I say go for it," Eve told her. "Good luck. If that's all, I really need some deep sleep tonight, so I'll just be going now. Same time next month?"

Oracle nodded. "Goodbye, Eve."

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**November 18****th**

**7:04 EDT**

Zatanna was up early the next morning. She wasn't usually a morning person, preferring to work at night, but she had gotten more sleep than usual last night.

Making her way into the kitchen, Zatanna saw Eve lingering over a cup of tea. Not wanting to disturb the older girl, Zatanna started to leave, but Eve looked up before she could. "Hello, Zee. It's okay. I won't bite."

Zatanna uneasily sat next to the other girl. "Are you, you know, okay?"

Eve grinned. "Perfectly chalant. Now, at least. Sorry about last night. And before you ask, I don't want to talk about it. Interrogate Robin if you want. Oh, and we're supposed to be getting a new teammate today."

That last part caught Zatanna's attention. "Really? Who?"

"Dunno yet. I was just considering that. Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Icon all have protégées. There isn't another Green Lantern, or at least not one so young. It's barely likely that Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado, the Hawks, or Captain Atom would have anyone like them. Black Canary isn't taking on a sidekick anytime soon, and neither is Red Arrow. So who does that leave?"

"Um, Black Lightning, the Atom, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man, and…wow. That's about it. Unless Bats has another he hasn't told us about."

They both considered it for a moment, and Eve shrugged. "He's had several Robins in other dimensions, but it's too early here for that. At least, I think it is."

"So, d'you know anything about Wonder Woman's sidekicks?"

"Not much. There's a Wonder Girl vaguely associated with the Titans, but I haven't met her. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Why are there so many sidekicks recently?"

M'gann drifted into the room. She flew over to Eve, looking worried. "Are you alright? What happened? Where did you go?"

Eve held up her hand to stem the flow of questions. "I'm fine now, I don't want to talk about it, and I went for a midnight swim. I do that a lot. It's a good way to calm down. Anyway, we're getting a new teammate today."

The statement distracted M'gann as effectively as it had Zatanna. "Really? Who?"

"We've narrowed it down to a protégée of Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, the Atom, or…" Zatanna considered it. "I think we can rule out Plastic Man."

"Probably. Bats barely allowed him on the League in the first place. Allowing him to take on a protégée, especially given his shady past, does not sound likely."

"Well, at least we'll have someone new. When are they supposed to be arriving?"

Eve held up a piece of paper. "Sometime around noon. It mentions that Bats wants all the members of the Team here. At least, I think it does. I may or may not have accidentally spilled tea on it." She looked chagrined.

"Allow me," Zatanna said. "Erotser siht repap dna kni." The note shimmered before returning to normal. "It says that he wants all _female_ members of the Team here."

She grinned at Eve and they both chorused, "Wonder Woman."

* * *

**So! Any guesses as to the who the new character is? I can tell you this: They were never in the show. So no, it's not Wonder Girl.**

**DreamTrance14: Hello! I'm glad that you're enjoying this story! Thank you SO MUCH for reviewing!**

**Um. I will not be doing Wally's birthday. Because I have no inspiration, and frankly, no time. So let's just assume that he and Artemis are eighteen and in college, but Superboy and M'gann are still at HHH. Just because otherwise it doesn't make much sense. So this is roughly a bit less than two years after the end of Season 1. **

**Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE! They give me inspiration to keep going with this story even when my evil little head demons jump all over me and convince me that this is a horrible idea and I should give up. So yes. Review!**

**Oh, and I saw "Man of La Mancha" and it was EPIC. **

**You know the drill. Next chapter will be up in two days!**


	8. A New Teammate

**Mt. Justice**

**November 18****th**

**11:45 EDT**

Artemis rushed into the Cave. She had just woken up fifteen minutes ago to find a message for her insisting that she be at the Cave by noon.

"I'm here!" she said. "Sorry, sorry. Did I miss anything?"

Aquagirl, Nightwalker, Zatanna, Miss Martian, and Rocket were all standing around the mission room, dressed in their costumes.

"No, but another few minutes and you might have," Rocket said. "We're getting a new teammate."

"We think she's Wonder Woman's protégée, but we aren't sure," Eve admitted.

"Who else could it be?" Zatanna asked.

"Never assume things, especially about people you haven't met. Assumptions are bad for the teeth."

"What does that even mean?" Artemis asked.

Before Eve could answer, there was a whirring from the Zeta tubes. "_Recognized: Batman; zero-two. Wonder Woman; zero-three. Troia; B-one-three."_

Batman and Wonder Woman walked into the Cave, accompanied by another girl. Looks-wise, she resembled a younger version of Wonder Woman. Costume-wise, she was utterly different. She wore a black sleeveless top that looked like a field of stars with a high neck and Wonder Woman's symbol emblazoned in silver on the chest, a silver belt, silver bracelets and silver armbands around her biceps, and black leggings ending in silver boots. A silver lasso was coiled at her side.

"Team, meet Donna Troy, also to be known as Troia. Troia, meet Miss Martian, Artemis, Zatanna, Rocket, Nightwalker, and Aquagirl."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Troia said, smiling.

"Troia is my younger sister from Themyscira," Wonder Woman said. "I expect you all to make her welcome."

"Of course!" Miss Martian said. "You can call me M'gann, Troia. And this is Eve, Raquel, Tula, and, well…"

"Artemis and Zatanna," Eve said. "It's great to meet you, as well. Wonder Woman, Batman, is it okay if we show her around the Cave?"

"Troia?" Wonder Woman asked.

"It sounds like fun," the girl said. "May I?"

"Go ahead. Be back here in an hour."

With that, the female members of the Team surrounded the new girl and bore her away in their midst.

"We promise to return her undamaged!" Eve called.

* * *

Eve was pleased to meet the new girl. Troia seemed like she would be a good addition to the Team.

"So what can you do?" Zatanna asked her.

"Um, I have superstrength and flight, just like my sister. I also have some superspeed, though I can't always use it and it burns a lot of energy. Oh, and I can tell when someone's lying."

"Really?" Artemis asked. "That's cool."

"Really? That's cool," Troia said, her voice an exact imitation of Artemis's.

As everyone stared at her, she grinned. "I can do this, too," she said, sounding like Batman this time.

"I can't decide whether that's majorly creepy or majorly cool," Zatanna said, looking at her.

"Cool. Definitely cool," Artemis said. "You would be _awesome_ at prank calls."

"Prank calls?" Troia asked.

"How much do you know about Man's World?" Eve asked her.

"Di—my sister has told me some things."

"Diana, you mean?" Eve asked. "It's okay. We know."

"Well, we do now," Raquel muttered.

"Well, do you know what phone calls are?" M'gann asked.

"Yes. Diana has told me about those."

"Well, prank calls are when you call someone anonymously and ask them funny questions or pretend to be someone else. Like, you call someone and ask, 'Is your refrigerator running?' When they say 'yes', then you say something like, "Well, then you better go catch it,"" Artemis explained.

"I fail to see the humor in that," Troia remarked.

"I never saw the point myself," Eve said, feigning innocence.

"Sure. And the fact that the Watchtower has been receiving prank calls that match up to times when you, Wally, and Robin were the only ones in the Cave?" Raquel asked. "Icon connected the dots a while ago."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Eve said, keeping a straight face.

"Right," Artemis said.

"I can tell you're lying," Troia remarked.

"Anyway!" Eve said quickly. "Have you been briefed on us?"

"Yes. Diana showed me the files before we came here."

"Oh, good. Wait, since when did I have a file?"

"June, I think," Zatanna remarked. "You know what Bats is like."

"So where are you going to school?" Tula asked the new girl. "Or are you in school?"

"My sister has enrolled me in eleventh grade in Gateway High. I will be living with her there."

"Have you met very many men yet?" Artemis asked. She knew that Themyscira was very isolated, with no men at all.

"Only Leaguers. There are boys on this team, yes?"

"Yup. Fair warning, Wally will probably try to flirt with you. Don't hit him for it. That's Artemis's job." This advice came from Eve.

That got a chuckle out of the new girl, and a laugh out of everyone who already knew Wally.

"Hey, we outnumber the boys now," Artemis remarked.

"We have ever since Tula joined the Team," Zatanna pointed out. "This should make for some interesting boys-vs.-girls training exercises."

"Interesting as in "we'll kick their butts?"" Raquel asked.

"Yup."

"Donna!" someone c

* * *

alled. The Team turned around to see Wonder Woman coming down the corridor.

"Yes?" Troia asked, turning to face her city.

"A League alert has come up. I'm needed to handle it. Can you stay with the Team for the rest of the day?"

"Of course."

"Where's the alert?" M'gann asked. Wonder Woman gave her a firm look and flew away.

"Oo-kaaaay…" Zatanna mumbled.

Eve had a devious glint in her eyes. She tapped her communicator. "Rob? You there?"

"_Um, yeah. Are you still mad at me?"_

"I'm over it. Grab Wally and get down here. You have a new teammate to meet. Oh, and can you still hack the Watchtower?"

* * *

**Mt. Justice **

**November 18****th**

**12:13 EDT**

"_Recognized: Robin, B-zero-one. Aqualad; B-zero-two. Kid Flash; B-zero-three. Superboy; B-zero-four. Tempest: B-one-one."_

"About time!" Eve said. She and the other female members of the Team were hanging around the mission room. She had pulled up the holographic files and was trying to access the Watchtower without setting off any tell-tales. "Get over here and hack, Robin."

Robin walked over. "Hello. I'm Robin. And you are?"

"Troia, but you can call me Donna," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey, there, beautiful! I'm Kid Flash, but you can call me…anytime." He winked at her.

"I warned you," Eve said as she and Robin bent over the console. "Artemis, go ahead."

There was an exclamation of pain from a certain speedster a moment later. "Owww!"

"Wait, who's this?" Conner asked.

M'gann explained as Robin hacked the systems. "So what's going on?" Eve asked him. "Wonder Woman didn't say anything, but she was scared. It's something bad."

Robin pulled up the pertinent file and froze. Eve could feel the waves of shock radiating off him.

"Okay. It's bad," she muttered.

Robin said one word that immediately got the absolute attention of the five other original team members. "Amazo."

They all jerked their heads up. Eve's eyes narrowed. "This 'Amazo' isn't a solid metal, faceless form, is he?"

"No, he looks like this." Robin pulled up a visual and Eve noticeably relaxed.

"So now what? Can't the League handle him?" she asked.

"Okay, time out. Who's this 'Amazo' guy?" Raquel asked.

It took about ten minutes for the original Team to give a quick rundown on their second real mission to the new members. The explanation became even longer when Artemis and Wally devolved into argument over whether or not he would have died without her arrow. Kaldur managed to shut them both up in fairly short order, but they still lost time.

"Again, can't the League handle him? They won't exactly be pleased to find that you've hacked the systems. _Again._" Eve pointed out.

"From what you've said, they did manage to take care of him last time," Tula pointed out.

"Yeah, but…" Wally started to protest.

"They are right," Kaldur said. "This mission is the responsibility of the League, not us."

"We're the ones that took down Amazo last time," Superboy said. "They should have let us help!"

"Technically, they took him down first. You just let the parts get stolen and had to fix your mistake," Zatanna pointed out.

This started an argument among the Team members, insisting that it wasn't their fault.

"ENOUGH!" Eve shouted, subtly using her empathy to make the message heard. "Look, Robin, keep an eye on the League. If it does turn out to be more trouble than they can handle, let us know. _If,_" she warned. "In the meantime, find out as much as you can about how this guy got back online."

Kaldur gave her a funny look, and she walked over to him. "Sorry for taking control like that. I know you're the leader here."

"You know, but I am afraid that soon they will not. You are very good at taking control."

Eve sighed. "Kaldur, I've been in some seriously weird places and some seriously deep shit where I was the only one who had any clue what was going on. I've had to become very, very good at coming up with workable plans on the fly. I've also gotten used to being able to seize control temporarily, get everyone doing what they needed to, and popping back out before anyone could get offended. And I could _do_ that, because I was an anomaly. I didn't have to stick around. I'm still used to working like that, though I'm trying to train myself out of it. I'm not a long-term leader. You are uniquely suited to being a leader, and you're very, very good at it. You have my full support."

"Thank you," Kaldur said.

"Hey, don't hesitate to let me know if I'm being too disrespectful. I have a bad tendency to do that." She paused. "I can't drive."

"What?"

"I can't drive. As in, I am physically incapable of understanding how to operate a vehicle. I also have no formal education past ninth grade and sometimes forget how to tell left from right."

"Why are you telling me this?"

She blinked her pale grey eyes at him. "To let you know that I'm fallible. I'm human. I can and do make mistakes. The trouble is, I've gotten so good at hiding my problems that I hide my weaknesses as well. I don't want to do that. Not here."

Kaldur realized what she was saying. This, admitting what she could not do, was hard for her. Very hard. But she was still willing to do it.

"Thank you."

She shrugged.

"Guys!" Robin called. "Ivo's busted out of Belle Reve, apparently. I have a fix on his location."

Kaldur raced over. "Where?"

"Yosemite National Park."

There was a _crack_ from behind them. They looked over to see Nightwalker holding a broken drinking glass.

"Where did you get that?" Troia asked as the other girl dropped the glass, now slightly bloody.

"Made it. Holy-mother-****ing shit, that hurts." She continued picking glass out of her hand as she made her way to the med-bay, swearing the whole time.

"Do _not_ leave without me!" she yelled.

Troia blinked at the girl's retreating, cussing form. "That…was impressive. And terrifying. I do not believe my sister would be very lenient with her if she knew she had been saying those things."

"Yeah, Eve's managed to get in trouble with about five Leaguers so far for her language. Superman is especially bothered by it. Black Canary only gives her a hard time during training for 'wasting her breath.' She still won't stop, though. We've just kind of accepted it," Artemis explained.

"Ah," Troia said.

"What's her deal with Yosemite?" Wally asked. He had come in uniform, as had Robin. "She was absolutely fine until you mention ed that place."

"Maybe I have some ties to 'that place'." The voice from behind caused them all to jump. Eve, wrapping a bandage around her hand, was studying them all. "Ties I don't really want to go into. Are we going?"

"Um, yeah. We'll have to take the S-cycle and the Bioship, though. We'll have trouble all fitting on either of them."

"I'll go on the cycle." Eve left the room, heading for the hangar.

"She's also a notorious eavesdropper. Doesn't appreciate any puns about it, though," Robin remarked before returning to the holograms.

* * *

**And the chapters have reached a good length again! Excellent!**

**Mailbox time! Thank you so much for all the reviews!**

**Zatanna Carrile: Congratulations for guessing correctly! Free virtual Oreos for you!**

**DreamTrance14: That's okay! And thank you! **

**Piggythelaw: Not quite…though that's definitely worth considering. I am trying to stick to canon on this one though. Maybe in a later fic? It's definitely an intriguing idea.**

**Guest: Um, okay. That comment seemed unnecessarily caustic and seriously uncalled for. I've got a great many chapters written out for this fic, so I'm not going to lose inspiration and stop anytime soon. Look, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you don't like this story, don't read it. Best solution for everyone. And this IS a YJ fic. I just chose to put a spin on it.**

**And now for the bad news (Or if you're that Guest reviewer, the good news). My life is going to be absolutely crazy for the next couple of weeks, so I'll post the next chapter in three days and then take a temporary break until the lunacy consuming all my time has passed. **


	9. Yosemite

**Okay! Quick author's note at the beginning of the chapter because I wanted to clear something up!**

•**In "Humanity," when the Team 'kidnaps' Zatanna to take on T.O. Morrow, they go to Yellowstone National Park in Montana. This takes place in Yosemite National Park, in California.**

•**I won't go into the full backstory here, but Eve's past with Yosemite is discussed in my first story, Nightwalker. You can check it out if you want the whole story.**

**Now on with the chapter!**

* * *

**Yosemite National Park**

**November 17****th**

**15:12 EDT**

_:Mind link established. Robin's determined that Ivo's holed up behind the waterfall.:_

_:How cliché. Oh, and there's a back entrance to that cave that I doubt he's ever discovered. The reason for that is because it's strictly a flyer's-only route, though. Any takers?: _Nightwalker asked. The Super-cycle was concealed in a grove of snow-flocked trees. The members of the Team who had taken it—Superboy, Troia, Aquagirl, and Tempest—were all waiting for the Bio-ship to move into position.

_:In that case, a diversion. We've fought Ivo before. He knows all the original members, and he will be expecting them. We should not disappoint. Zatanna, have you mastered the levitation spell yet?:_

_:It's a bit sketchy, but it'll hold long enough to get me up that waterfall.:_

_:Very well. Nightwalker—you, Rocket, and Troia go around to this 'back entrance' and look for Ivo. Tempest and Aquagirl, with me. We will be taking the direct route. Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian, Kid, Zatanna—you are the distraction. Go at him directly. Get his attention.:_

_:Got it. Rocket, meet us in the woods behind the falls. Hey, did you know that these are the highest waterfalls in North America?:_

_:Not now, Eve.:_

* * *

The three girls met up in a clearing going down the back of the hill that rose to create Yosemite Falls.

_:So where is this secret entrance?: _Rocket asked.

_:It's around here somewhere. Look for a creek running out of the side of the hill. That creek leads to a vertical crevice that leads up into a cave behind the waterfall. I'm guessing that's where Ivo set up shop. The crevice is pretty much impossible to find unless you know what you're looking for.:_

_:So how do you know what to look for?:_ Troia asked.

Nightwalker's expression didn't change. _:Let me have some secrets. I promise that this isn't one that could hurt anyone except me.:_

_And how the hell am I supposed to explain that this is where my grave was?_

Before she had been Nightwalker, she had just been a teenage girl, afraid of her own powers, who was dying of cancer. Right as her body finally would have stopped breathing, she had managed to sever her spirit and dream her way into another dimension. In that world, she had met a different Robin and spent six months traveling with him. At the end of it, she had sacrificed herself so he could escape from Ra's al Ghul. Her body had vanished, but Robin had put her hat, the only thing left of her, in the cave behind the waterfall that they had found on one of their trips to this very park. So technically, she was sneaking into the site of her own tomb.

_God, that's a creepy thought._

It took ten minutes of searching before Troia indicated over the mind-link that she had found it. :_Got it. Aqualad, you're good to go.:_

_:Understood. We will begin the distraction.:_

Nightwalker trailed along the creek until she found what she was looking for. The creek led under an outcropping. The space under the outcropping continued into the cliff, forming a cave, and just like she had said, there was a crack in the roof of the cave leading up.

_:The stone's a mix of shale and sandstone. Too loose for grappling hooks. Flight's the only way to get up here.:_

_:How did you find this place?: _

There was silence on the other end, and Nightwalker took off, lifting towards the top. The other two followed her.

They came out in the back of a dimly lit storage cave. It fortunately had no door, and therefore no lock. They could hear Ivo talking to himself.

"Oh, dear. The Justice brats are back. I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. At least the MONQIs are functioning properly. I really must see about studying the physiology of that little witch-girl. She would make an excellent android."

Nightwalker turned to the others. _:Any ideas?:_ she asked, broadcasting it at the whole group.

_:Troia, can you use that lasso?:_ Rocket asked.

_:Yes. But that still leaves the problem of the several dozen MONQIs.:_

_:We'll just have to deal with those. If I can get a hand on Ivo for longer than three seconds, I can knock him out safely. That might cause the robots to go crazy, though, so I'd rather keep him alive.:_ A thought occurred to her. :_The MONQIs—I bet you anything they're keyed to Ivo's voiceprint.:_

Troia's wicked grin could be seen even in the dim light of the cave. She listened for a moment, then said loudly in Ivo's voice, "MONQIs. Command override. Begin shutdown sequence."

* * *

Outside the waterfall, the Team was fighting dozens of MONQIs. Superboy seemed to be particularly annoyed.

"I hate monkeys," he grumbled as he ripped the heads off of several more.

"We know," chorused KF, Artemis, and Robin.

"Geez, get a new line," Kid Flash added as he threw robots at the waterfall.

They had been fighting for half an hour, trying to make their way up to the top of the waterfall, but they were having no luck. Eve the Atlantians were having trouble. The water was too powerful and fast for them to travel up, and the MONQIs were making it impossible for Aqualad to concentrate enough to shape the water.

_:Nightwalker, do you have a solution?:_

_:Wait for it…_:

Suddenly, the MONQIs came to a halt and started shutting down. Their eyes went dark and they fell to the ground.

:_Yes! Troia, you are beautiful. We're going after Ivo. You guys are welcome to join us._:

:_Right behind you,:_ Robin said.

:_No grappling hooks! The cliff is too unstable.:_

_:Fine. Supes, any chance of a lift?:_

_:Same deal. Get a lift that won't bring this thing crashing down on us.:_

_:I will take you up. Nightwalker, be ready for us to come in._:

* * *

Inside the cave, chaos had erupted. Ivo had somehow gotten his hands on a laser gun, and was shooting it at the three girls. Rocket had formed a protective bubble, and Troia was deflecting the blasts off her bracelets, but Nightwalker was forced to duck and dodge as she tried to make her way towards Ivo.

:_Crap! Troia, can you grab the gun?:_

_:No. I need to focus on the bolts.:_

_:Dammit. Aqualad, we need some help in here before this idiot brings the whole cave down!:_

There was a sudden silence as the noise of the laser blasts vanished. In the silence, it was all too easy to hear a growing rumble from above.

_****. _

_:Troia, Rocket, get out of here! Now! That bastard is about to collapse the roof and channel the waterfall in here!:_

_:I will get Ivo.:_

_:I can try and support the roof with a—:_

_:No. Get Ivo and Troia inside a bubble, and _leave._ Unless things have changed, I'm the only one in here who can breathe underwater.:_

Troia lassoed Ivo and brought him inside one of Rocket's bubbles. The two girls left with their prisoner as the three Atlantians and Miss Martian rushed in. Aqualad tossed her something.

"Robin sent you this. He said you would know what to do." With that, he and the others turned to stabilize the cave.

Nightwalker unwrapped the bundle to find Robin's holo-glove. _Perfect._

* * *

Robin was making his way back to the Bio-ship when there was a voice in his mind. :_Nice work. Problem is, I don't know how to run this thing. Mind talking me through it?:_

_:Sure. What have you done already?:_

_:It's hooked up to Ivo's computer and telling me that I need a password to access it.:_ A pause. :_Okay, I'm in.:_

_:How did you know my password?: _Robin demanded.

:_Zitka. Same as always. You've used that password for as long as I've known any version of you. You might want to consider indulging in some creativity. Now it's telling me I need the proper authorization to access the files.:_

_:Well, what you want to do is….:_

* * *

Half an hour later, M'gann had managed to stabilize the earth of the roof, the Atlantians had diverted the water away from the instability Ivo had attempted to use to bring down half the mountain, Nightwalker and Robin had managed to access all his files that were on-site and download them onto the glove, and Ivo himself was in custody.

That had been the easy part.

Half the League had shown up at Yosemite Falls, having finished their battle with the android at last. None of them were happy. Wonder Woman had been especially not pleased that her younger sister had charged into battle less than an hour after she had left her with the Team. The whole thing was very much reminiscent of when Zatanna had been 'kidnapped' and wound up fighting Red Volcano.

Fortunately for Eve and Robin, the two main instigators behind the scheme, there appeared to be a problem with the security cameras at the Cave. No footage from the time after Wonder Woman's and Batman's departure could be retrieved. (Which may or may not have been the result of a brainchild of Nightwalker's and a little surreptitious hacking on Robin's part) As a result, there was no way to determine whose idea it had been to make the trip to Yosemite, and no one Diana could really blame without Troia taking some of it. All the members of the Team were claiming equal responsibility.

Batman even had a half-smile on his face, one that was only noticeable to those who had the most experience with him. Robin, Kid, and Nightwalker all noticed it though, and were quick to communicate it to the rest of the Team, who relaxed noticeably once they knew that the Bat wasn't going to flay them alive, verbally or otherwise.

Eventually, they were all released from their interrogation to return to the Cave, with orders to write up mission reports and the next five days off from training, unless there was an emergency.

Troia was taken off by her sister, waving goodbye to the Team before flying off. The other members of the Team left with their respective Leaguers, until only Robin and Batman were left. Nightwalker approached them.

"If it's okay, I'm going to go on a trip. Nothing big, just flying around California. I'll be back at the Cave in five days," she promised as Bats shot her a skeptical look.

"Fine. Go."

As she flew away to the west, Batman turned to Robin. "We're going on patrol in Gotham tonight. I want you to get some sleep before then."

Protests were useless when Bruce was in his protective mode. Robin acquiesced and the Dynamic Duo returned to Gotham.

* * *

**Mailbox time!**

**Xemidemon: Here's your update! But I am going on temporary hiatus while I deal with the insanity that is going to become my life. No, there weren't any hints, because this was supposed to be a continuation of my first story, and I honestly forgot to include them. Sorry! If you still have questions after this, just ask me.**

**Zatanna Carrile: I see all, I know all, and everyone loves cookies. It is a universal law. :-) **** I hope this answered your questions, though again, if you still have any more, just review or PM me.**

**SpectreFanchin10: Good guess. And thanks for telling me!**

**Piggythelaw: Tis true. I looked her up on Wikipedia before writing her out, and it mentioned that she had that power. It was too perfect not to include. And yes, yes she is. Her mouth is the reason this thing is rated T.**

**So yes, this will be the last chapter for the next couple of weeks. Sorry, sorry! I have a play coming up, and my life will be nothing but chaos and increased entropy until it's over. I will attempt to upload a very short chapter I have written to introduce a new character over the weekend, but no promises. Any guesses? The last line of this chapter sort of hints at it…**

**I hope this chapter was satisfactory. This is the first real mission I've written out for the full Team. If you guys liked it, let me know, and I'll attempt to work in more action scenes. The next two weeks should give me plenty of time to revise and write new stuff. **

**Oh, and I have absolutely no idea whether there is actually a cave behind Yosemite falls. I went there once, but I didn't exactly climb to the top. So just take it as artistic license!**

**As always, REVIEW! I will see you…whenever I see you. Apologies again**


	10. Jason Who?

**Gotham City**

**November 18****th**

**03:17 EDT**

For Robin, the Boy Wonder, it was the end of a long and satisfying patrol. For Dick Grayson, it was a Sunday night before a week of school and he'd had a grand total of three hours of sleep all weekend. Both sides of his persona were looking forward to heading home.

As the Dynamic Duo made their way back to the Batmobile, parked in Crime Alley, Dick contemplated what Eve had said earlier that weekend. Now that he had started thinking about it, he knew that what she said was true. He couldn't be Robin forever. So what was he going to do?

Dick was definitely not going to give up to give up being a superhero. He couldn't. It meant too much to him. He didn't want to be the next Batman, even if he could.

So now what?

Lost in thought, Dick was totally unprepared to crash into Batman's back as the Dark Knight stopped dead in his tracks.

"Trouble?" Robin asked. He ducked around his mentor, a birdarang at the ready. "What the…?"

The Batmobile was up on cinderblocks, three of the wheels missing. The fourth was being removed by a scrawny red-headed kid. He stood up, a tire iron in his hands and a scared expression in his green eyes.

"What are you doing?" Batman demanded. He stepped closer to the kid. "Trying to finish the job?"*

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," the kid insisted.

"Oh really? Then what's the tire iron for?"* He took another step so he was looming over the kid.

"_This!"*_ The kid said. He swung it hard and hit Batman in the stomach before taking off.

He didn't get very far. Robin threw a birdarang, knocking the kid off his feet, and Batman threw a smoke pellet, enveloping him and knocking him out.

Robin couldn't help it. He had to snicker at the sight of the Batmoblie with jacked-off tires. "Whoever this kid is—he's got guts."

"Yes," Batman said, frowning. "He definitely has potential. So why is he stealing tires?"

"Obvious answer, really. Lack of options. So now what?"

* * *

**Batcave**

**November 18th**

**3:42 EDT**

Jason Todd woke up tied to a chair. That wasn't exactly unusual. Growing up on the rougher side of Crime Alley, a lot of things tended to happen to a kid. He had been kidnapped once, but they had quickly figured out he had nothing to offer, beat him up, and let him go.

The weird part was _where_ he was. He was in the middle of a high-tech room that was apparently underground. In a cave.

A really, really, _big_ cave. And—was that a freaking dinosaur?

"Who's this?"* a British voice demanded. Jason looked up with wild eyes to see a tall, thin man dressed in a tuxedo.

"We caught him trying to jack the wheels of the Batmobile," a cheerful voice said.

Holy shit, was that Robin? As in, _the_ Robin?

Well, he did try and steal the Batmobile's tires. Yeah, that had definitely been one of his more stupid-ass ideas. So where the **** was—

"So are we in the business of kidnapping children now, Sir?" the man asked.

"We found him in Crime Alley, Alfred. His name's Jason Todd. There's no one who will miss him."

"Do you intend to _keep_ him?"* the butler demanded, ungagging Jason.

"I'll let you know," Batman said. "In the meantime, make some sandwiches. A variety, your discretion. Jason and I are going to have a long talk."*

"Hey, what about me?" the Boy Wonder demanded. He swung down from the stalactites.

"Robin, go to bed. You have school tomorrow. I'll talk with you more later."

"Oh, c'mon!"

"_Go._"

Robin rolled his eyes and did a series of tumbling moves toward an elevator. He jumped in, waved good-bye to Jason, and vanished.

Jason swallowed. He didn't think this was going to end well.

* * *

Dick Grayson was still awake. Why wouldn't he be? There was a _stranger._ In the _Batcave._

Bruce _had_ explained his reasoning. It had stemmed from a discussion—an ongoing one—involving the fact that he was outgrowing Robin. Nightwalker's comment on Friday along the same lines had not been entirely unanticipated. It had started with the fact that he had grown over a foot since his first costume had been made, and been closely followed with the fact that he was spending more and more time with the Team instead of helping in Gotham. They had almost fallen into a serious argument over it that risked restarting at any time.

Could this be the solution?

Dick considered this. He had been Robin for almost seven years now. Was he ready to move on? His personal reason for becoming Robin had ended a few months after donning the cape, but the drive lived on.

His fingers twitched. Might as well design a new costume, if that's the way things looked.

* * *

**I LIIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEEE!**

**I have FINALLY finished the play that consumed my life and soul for the past three weeks, so I am free to update once more. I swear that I will update again with a longer chapter tomorrow.**

**REVIEW TIME!**

**Zatanna Carrile: Sorry that the update you requested is so late!**

**Piggythelaw: Thank you for the digital cake!**

**Prettykitty luvs u: Hope things work out for you soon! I took your advice with Jason. **

**Xemidemon: I'm glad you liked my first story, and the action scene in this one. **

**Guest: Um…thank you!**

**Okay, this is just a short chapter to introduce my version of Jason Todd. I'm pretty sure that in the comics, JT came in as Robin II **_**after**_** Nightwing happened, but that wasn't really working for me. In Invasion, Dick seems to have a pretty good relationship with Batman, and I wanted to stick with that by writing a new origin for Jason Todd, especially since there really isn't a lot of information on him in YJ. He will join the Team, and Dick will become Nightwing soon. I do not plan on writing out Jason's death.**

**In regards to the people joining the Team, I've been going by the designation order on the wiki, trying to set them up with a bit of a spin. The order's a bit messed up, but I'm going to cut either Lieutenant or Sgt. Marvel (B14 and B15) in order to make sure it winds up being accurate. Any authorization code used in the actual series will be correct. I don't think I'll get past Batgirl (B16) before this story ends. **

**Words like this* are quotes from the actual comic books. The first ones are from the original new origin of Jason, the second set (In the Batcave) are from 2005. My little tribute.**


	11. Changes

**Redwood Forests**

**November 20****th**

**14:32 PST**

Nightwalker soared above the tops of the redwoods, enjoying the rare time to herself. Living at the mountain had its perks, but she was used to far more alone time than she had been getting at the cave.

Gods above and below, she had missed Northern California. It had once been her home, and was still what she thought of in the back of her mind as "safe."

It had been a couple days since the incident at Yosemite, meaning she still had three days of freedom before her return to her ball and chain.

With a sigh, she settled herself on a branch, letting herself rest. The Team was starting to feel like a second family, and the mountain like home, but when she was off on her own like this with the wind in her face and no one to answer to, the thought of returning to follow orders seemed unbearable.

Eve returned to her contemplation. If she had really wanted to leave the Team, she could have done so long ago. But there was something else. As much as she craved freedom, she was starting to crave human contact as well. Friendly human contact—people who tried their best to understand and accept her.

But dammit, why did she have to get herself stuck here? Why had she ever agreed to join the damned team in the first place? Why hadn't she just run away while she had the chance?

It was while she was lost in those irritable thought that her commlink beeped.

"_Nightwalker. Return to Cave._"

"What?" she snapped, annoyed. "Don't I have three more days out here? If an emergency has come up, there are now eleven other people, all perfectly capable of handling whatever it is."

There was silence on the other end of the comm. A different voice—not Batman's—came on.

"_Eve, it's Dick. Look, I'm sorry to call you in—I know you're taking some time off—but I need your help. And some advice. Look, this isn't an order. This is me, as a friend, asking for a favor."_

Eve blinked. Had she really only been away for two days? He sounded much older.

She sighed. He was, it seemed, growing up. The petty part of her mind demanded to know why he had to pick such an inconvenient time. The suspicious part insisted she notice what had been odd about that transmission.

_He said it was Dick. Not Robin, Dick._

A knowing smile worked it's way onto her face. Different universes were set at different times. She had met Dick as an old man, as a toddler—

And as Nightwing.

Was she witnessing the beginning of Nightwing?

If that was a possibility, it was definitely one that warranted her attention.

"Give me an hour to get to the nearest Zeta tube. There's one in Star City, right?"

"_Yeah. Thanks, Eve. I'll make it up to you."_

Eve cut off her commlink with a sigh. She was certainly racking up favors with Dick this week. One thing was for sure—collection day would be big.

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**November 20****th**

**12:24 EST**

"_Recognized: Nightwalker; B-one-zero."_

"Okay, Dick, I'm here. What did you want to tell me?"

Dick looked up from the holograms. Gotham Academy was on Thanksgiving break at the moment, but Artemis was visiting her mother. Happy Harbor, Central City, and Gateway High didn't get out until Thursday, and the Atlantians were visiting their home. They were the only ones in the Cave.

"Bruce found someone."

"Oh?"

"A kid. In Crime Alley. He tried to steal the tires off the Batmobile. Almost got away with it, too."

"And you called me away from my much-deserved and needed vacation…why?"

"Because he wants to be Robin."

"What's his name?"

"Jason Todd."

There was total silence on her end. He looked up to see her face go absolutely white. "Eve?"

"Sorry. Distracted. Go on."

"Eve, you know something about him."

"No. Not this version of him. Every world is different. Every world is open to change. I refuse to influence your decision one way or the other. What do you plan on doing about this? And was it your idea or Bruce's?"

"Bruce talked about it with me, but in the end, it was my idea. I've been thinking about what you said, even before you said it. I think I've been Robin for long enough. I want to try something new."

"Oh, really?" There was a heavy irony in her voice. "And what would 'something new' be? Cooking classes? Art? Interpretive dance, perhaps?"

"Independence."

There was silence. He looked over to see that she was smiling.

She looked proud.

"Good. So now what?"

"Why are you suddenly okay with this?"

"Spoilers. So now what?"

He had long accepted that any question she answered with "Spoilers" would only be answered if and when she was ready, and not before then. Even Batman couldn't worm the answer to a question she replied to with that out of her.

"Well, Bruce insists on giving Jason at least four months of training before he's allowed to become Robin. So I'll be filling in until then, but afterwards…" he pulled up the image of a costume he had designed over the past couple of days. "What do you think of the name Nightwing?"

She walked over to stand next to him, studying the design. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"It's based on a Kryptonian legend Clark told me, but the similarity did cross my mind. I thought you'd appreciate it."

Eve let out a small laugh. "I am obscurely flattered. Will you be telling the Team?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, Nightwing, it's kind of a change from Robin, and I'm pretty sure they'll notice when a new guy—"

"Not what I meant. Dick, are you going to tell them your name?"

His fingers froze over the keys. "I don't know."

"Why not? Dick, you'll be sixteen soon. Legally, that's old enough to vanish. I would think that's old enough to decide whether or not to share your name with people you trust. If you ask Bruce, I seriously doubt he'll say no."

"But—" he stopped. There was a sad look in her eyes. "Eve, what is it?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, looking directly at him. "I've seen what happens when you forget who you are, Dick. I don't want to see it again."

There was really nothing he could say in response to that.

Eve sighed. "Look, Dick, just promise me you'll talk to Bruce and see if he'll let you explain yourself to the Team. That's all I ask. Okay?"

"Okay."

She let out another sigh, this one of relief. "Good. Now, I am going back to my vacation. You seriously owe me, Grayson. First the banquet and now this? You know I'm going to call those favors in eventually. And you better hope I'm an a good mood when I do."

"I know. Thanks, Eve."

The Zeta tubes whirred as Eve left, and he turned back to his work.

Why had she freaked out at Jason's name?

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**November 24****th**

**11:02 EDT**

Everyone except Wally and Robin was at the Cave. They had all gotten a message from Nightwalker, telling them that if they wanted to learn the biggest secret they would ever find out, they needed to get down to the mountain _right now._

They had all been eager to understand what she had meant. Rocket had been the last one to arrive.

"Okay, we're here. Will you tell us now?" the girl demanded. They were all dressed in civvies.

Eve had the biggest smile they had ever seen on her face. "I can't. It isn't my secret to tell. But the person who will answer it should be arriving…now."

The Zeta tubes whirred. "_Recognized: Robin; B-zero-one. Kid Flash; B-zero-three."_

"About time. Robin, will you tell us…" Artemis trailed off in shock. Wally stood there, with Robin. He was dressed in his civvies, but with one very important difference.

He wasn't wearing sunglasses.

"Good timing, _Grayson,"_ Eve said.

The reactions were immediate and deeply satisfying.

"I _knew_ it!" Zatanna said.

"_You!"_ Artemis said. "You…little…_troll!_" She smacked him on the arm before he could dodge. "You _knew_ who I was? And you didn't tell me?"

"Or _any _of us?" Rocket demanded.

Wally suddenly looked very, very uncomfortable. He was the next target. Half the Team turned to him and yelled, "_You knew?"_

"Enough!" Kaldur said. "Please, do not yell at him. Dick Grayson, I presume?" he asked the boy in question.

Dick grinned, albeit slightly uncomfortably. "Yup. Nice to meet you."

"So this means…" M'gann said. She gasped. "Bruce Wayne is Batman!"

"Um, yeah. Don't go spreading that around," Wally remarked. "It took the three of us all week to talk him into this."

"The _three_ of us?"

Eve raised a hand. "Guilty as charged. Before you all start yelling at me, I'm just going to say this: we said nothing because Dick asked us not to. It's his identity, his life, and his secret. It was his right to tell you."

"Look, I'm sorry I've never told you before. But I'm tired of secrets. I'm ready to share. So let's try this again." He extended his hand to Kaldur, reminiscent of the first time the two sidekicks had met. "I'm Dick Grayson. Nice to meet you."

**Yay! He revealed his name! I figured it had to happen at some point in the five-year gap, probably before the Team got too big. So I did it. Ha.**

**Skipping a week...**

* * *

**Wayne Manor**

**December 1****st**

**19:05 EDT**

For the first time in forever, the entire Team was at Wayne Manor to celebrate Dick's birthday. There had been a civilian party yesterday, which none of them had attended, but today was all about the Team.

Alfred had already been given a vacation to England, under the condition that they clean up any major messes they managed to make. Bruce had stayed long enough to lay down a few ground rules, and then retreated to the safety of the Watchtower. The rules were thus:

•Anyone who even _thought_ of going down to the Batcave would be tortured in some unspecified way.

•If anything was broken when he returned, the perpetrator would have to pay for it.

•No seriously maiming each other

•No sneaking out to fight crime in Gotham

•The caviar in the fridge was off-limits

And since Aqualad did not want to deal with the consequences of a bunch of super-powered teens hopped up on sugar, Nightwalker was in charge.

This was also the first time the Team had met Jason. So far, it was going fairly well. Artemis and Raquel, having grown up on the rougher side of their respective cities, had taken an immediate liking to him. Wally and Garth had bonded with him over an hour of playing video games and yelling insults at the screen. Zatanna had tied Jason to the ceiling with his own hair after he tried to prank her, so now they had a mutual-respect thing going on. Tula and Kaldur were polite to him, and he was polite as could be expected back. M'gann had won him over with a batch of cookies, Conner had just glowered at him, and Eve had explicitly threatened to drop him from a rooftop if he stole her hat. So they were good.

Donna had apparently been the tipping point. Upon introduction, he had stared at her open-mouthed until Dick elbowed him, and now blushed anytime she glanced his way.

Given the frequency of these incidents, it was quite likely that the feeling was mutual. This was causing no end of giggles over the mental link.

It had been three hours since they had arrived, and they were now giving Dick presents. So far, he had received a first-aid kit (Donna), a set of Atlantian throwing knives (Garth and Tula), a book on the latest computer hacking strategies (Kaldur), another first-aid kit (Roy, who hadn't shown up) a poster tube (Zatanna, to be opened later) a copy of the latest Halo game (Wally) a set of tabloids speculating on the true identity of Batman and Robin (Artemis), a handmade dictionary containing all of his made-up words (Conner and M'gann) and a book of puns (Raquel). So far, only Eve hadn't given him a gift.

"What about you?" he asked.

She gave a devilish, evil grin. "You'll see. M'gann, now!"

Dick and Zatanna had no chance to protest as M'gann used her telepathy to lift them both into the air. Eve quickly used a scarf to gag Zatanna so she couldn't cast any spells, and tied them both up with a rope that Jason handed her. Superboy picked the two of them up and carried them down the hall.

"What are you doing?' Robin demanded as he wriggled. "This does _not_ seem like a whelming gift."

Eve opened a closet and cut their ropes as she tossed them inside. "Not yet, anyway. You guys have half an hour. Have fun!" With that, she shut the door. There was an audible _thunk_ from a deadbolt lock that Dick _knew_ hadn't been there earlier.

"Oh, come on!" he yelled.

"Thirty minutes! Jason helped me reinforce this place. No way out!"

"So what are we supposed to do?"

"Enjoy each other's company, of course. Bye!"

With that, two sets of footsteps vanished down the hall.

Dick felt the door. It had been covered with a thin sheet of titanium. No cracks or weaknesses. The closet was empty of anything that could help him break out. Zatanna was eying him with amusement.

"Can't you cast a spell or something? Get us out of here?"

There was a gentle hand on his back that forced him to turn around and look Zatanna in the eyes.

They had both grown quite a bit over the past two years, and she was now just a couple of inches shorter than him. Her bright blue, laughing eyes twinkled at him. He swallowed, hard.

"Dick, you're basing that idea on an incorrect assumption," she told him.

He managed to shake some semblance of order back into his thoughts and ask the question on his mind. "Um…what?"

She pulled him closer to her, placing her lips next to his ear. "Who says I _want_ to get out of here?" she breathed, kissing him on the neck.

* * *

**Wayne Manor**

**December 1****st**

**20:10 EDT**

Dick and Zatanna were in the middle of a passionate kiss when someone started banging on the door.

"Time's up!" Eve announced. "You both have exactly thirty seconds to achieve some semblance of decency before this door is opened. One…two…three…"

Dick broke his lips away from Zatanna's and brushed off his shirt. **(Clean out your filthy mind! They only kissed.)** Their clothes were slightly rumpled, but none of them had come off. "I hate her sometimes," he grumbled.

Zee laughed and climbed to her feet. "Come on, Boy Wonder. We better get back to your party."

The deadbolt turned and the door opened. Eve stood there, a small smile on her face. "Well?"

Dick gave her his best Bat-glare, but she only laughed. "Second part of your gift: Bruce and Alfred never find out about this. There's cake if either of you wants some." With that, she turned around and headed back to the game room.

"Do you want any cake?" Robin asked Zatanna.

"Cake?" she said. "Sounds perfect." She gave him one last kiss on the lips and they walked down to the game room, hand in hand.

* * *

**In case you haven't noticed, I love Chalant. I chose to cram these together because for one, I promised you a long chapter, and for another, I didn't think they worked well individually. As for Jason's crush on Donna, it's my personal headcanon that they were in a relationship, and his death caused her to leave the Team and return to Themyscira as a way to cope, much like how Garth left after Aquagirl's death.**

**Thank you all so much for the OVERwhelming response to the previous chapter! All your reviews reminded me why I love writing these stories.**

**Mailbox time!**

**Xemidemon: Yay! And I really don't know that much about him either. Everything I know about him comes from other fanfics and Under the Red Hood. (Great movie!)**

**Prettykitty luvs u: Yes, yes I did! Thank you!**

**Mango-sama: Yes! Any squealing you may or may not have done was nevertheless appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter, and I hope that having Nightwalker in this chapter helped satisfy. Did you know the review box filtered out Dick's name? Weird. Thank you for one of the nicest guest reviews I've gotten on any story!**

**Piggythelaw: First of all, thank you so much for reviewing right after every chapter is posted! It makes me so unbelievably happy to check my inbox ten minutes after I put a new one up and find one of your lovely, lovely reviews. Virtual cookies and ice cream for you! And Jason definitely had guts. I LOVE how that's how he gets Bruce's attention.**

**And now that the long chapter I promised has been posted, I will post the next chapter in two days to get back on the every-other-day updating schedule. Plus, my school gets out on Thursday for Spring Break. So yay for an extra day and a whole week off! It gives me more time to write stories. **

**Oh, and speaking of stories, I recently posted a new one called "A Thousand Days Later," in which Wally gets sent into a future where the Team has gone rogue and done a hostile takeover of the Earth after his "death." Link in the doobly-do. (Any nerdfighters on here? Yes? No? Maybe? I've been watching vlogbrothers a lot lately…) Actual link on my profile under 'Stories,' because, well, where else would it be?**

**As always, REVIEW!**


	12. I Have WHAT?

**Mt. Justice**

**December 7****th**

**11:17 EDT**

Raquel strolled into the Cave. She had a day off, like the rest of the Team, and was looking forward to enjoying her three-day weekend. Those plans went out the window with the first shriek.

"****, ****, ****, ****, ****!" a familiar voice yelled. Raquel winced as it blistered her ears.

"Whoa!" she shouted as Nightwalker stormed into the mission room. She had stopped shouting, but was muttering a string of very bad words in English, Spanish, and Romani.

"What's your problem today?" Raquel asked. She saw Robin and Wally coming closely behind the angry girl. "What's happening?"

"Well, since Eve has a tendency to blow up any medical equipment we try to scan her with—"

"Another damn good reason not to go through with this freaking thing!"

"Someone clearly isn't traught," Robin commented. He picked up where Wally left off. "Given that, we thought that making an x-ray machine she wouldn't have to be hooked up to and risk destroying would be a good thing. So we invented an x-ray gun! Just point, shoot, and scan."

"_I_ invented the x-ray gun," Wally complained.

"So she's freaking out because you're trying to scan her? What, did you try to get a look at her underwear?"

"_She_ can hear you!"

"No, actually, the scan went off perfectly."

"Screw the scan!"

"What did you find?" Raquel asked, ignoring the outbursts from the angrily pacing girl.

"Someone needs their wisdom teeth removed…" Wally said in a sing-song voice.

"Shut the hell up, West."

Raquel took the gun and pointed it at Nightwalker. "Just point and scan?"

"Yup. Hey Night, hold still!"

Grumbling, the girl stalked towards them and held her arms out. Raquel pointed it at her head and pressed the trigger. An image flashed up on the screen of her jaw. True enough, there were four noticeable bumps in her gums, coming up in just the right spots. Raquel recognized them from when she had her own wisdom teeth removed.

"Yup. You got 'em, all right."

"****!" Nightwalker exclaimed angrily. She went back to pacing.

"C'mon, Night, you need the surgery! Look, we can do it in Gotham. Just give Bruce a day or so to set everything up and…"

"No!"

"You need to get them out, Eve," Wally said.

"No!"

"Why not?" Raquel asked.

"One, I don't like hospitals. Two, I don't exist, so checking me into one for surgery is going to be pretty hard. Three, if you do somehow get me in, you _know_ I'm going to wind up blowing something up. They're going to try and scan me or hook me up to something and it's going to end badly. Four, I'm allergic to most pain meds. Five, _I don't like hospitals!_" She spun and punched the wall. "How the hell do I even _have_ wisdom teeth? I recreated this body out of the very fabric of reality itself! I shouldn't _have ****ing wisdom teeth!_"

"Girl, watch your mouth," Rachel told her.

"One, deal with it. Two, fake paper trails are the easiest thing in the world. Three, Bruce knows a reliable doctor—Doctor Leslie. She's patched me up a million times. She'll take care of the preliminary stuff and clear it so the surgery will be non-invasive enough that you won't have to be hooked up to anything. Four, we can find one that works. Five, what is your deal?"

"I. Don't. ****ing. Like. Hospitals," she growled out through clenched teeth.

"Why not?" Wally asked. "I mean, c'mon, I know all of us have a problem with the fact that we all get patched up in them way too often, but—"

"I don't like hospitals, okay?" She yelled at him. With that, she turned and ran—actually _ran—_out.

That wasn't like her. She never ran unless there was a crisis that needed dealing with, and then she ran _towards_ the problem. This was running away.

"Is she okay?" Raquel asked.

"I don't think so," Dick said. "I'll go talk to her."

He made his way down the hall to the training room, where Eve was hitting a punching bag. She got two quick jabs in with her fists, spun around and jammed her elbows into it, then ducked before spinning again to thrust a foot into it. All this would have been perfectly normal if she didn't have tears running down her cheeks. She punched it twice more before stopping and collapsing on the floor, tucking up her knees to bury her face in them.

Dick approached her slowly and carefully, the same way he would a rabid lion at the circus.

"Eve?" he asked, quietly. "Are you okay?"

"You of all people should know what a _stupid_ question that is, Grayson."

She was using his last name. Uh-oh.

"Goddammit. I am so ***ing sick of this." Something in her voice was broken.

"What is it?" he asked, sitting next to her.

"I hate hospitals. Anything else—ask me to face down the Joker, even—and I'll do it. But not a hospital. Not now, not ever."

"Mind telling me why?"

"They wreck havoc with my shields. All that pain, all that suffering…it's just too much to deal with."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "Nice try. Half true, I'd bet. But not the whole truth."

"I hate you sometimes."

"Sure you do. But tell me the truth anyway."

There was a long moment of silence as Eve trained her eyes on the opposite wall. When she spoke, her voice was soft and ragged.

"The last time I was in the hospital, I was fifteen years old. My empathy was becoming more powerful than it had ever been before. I could sense any and all emotions within a mile radius unless I kept shields erected. I was able to achieve telepathic connection through physical contact. And my dreams were wilder than ever before.

"Because of that, I would have been condemned as a freak. A mutant. I believed that my gifts were evil, dangerous things. I believed that I was an evil, dangerous thing. I had held these beliefs since I was six years old and my world was torn apart, and was working to hide what I could do every minute of my life.

"I was in the hospital, the center of more pain, suffering, and grief than any other place in the city, and I could sense every single emotion in it. And I was dying of cancer."

Eve's breath caught in her throat as she spoke, and she had to pause for several moments while she regained her will to continue. Dick was silent the entire time.

"Everyone knew I was dying. The doctors, the nurses—I could feel it every time they touched me. I hated it, but I could. They all knew it was terminal—that it was a question of 'when,' not 'if.' I knew as soon as they did. And even before that, I didn't care. I did everything they asked of me, but there was no spirit in it. I didn't want to live. I didn't think I deserved to.

"Those months are probably some of the darker times in my life. I was trapped in a downward spiral of self-loathing, wanting to die, thinking that I should. I had to feel what my family felt as they watched me die. I had to lie awake listening to my father cry, feeling all the grief he did. I had to watch my brother sit next to me wearing a brave mask when he was a hair away from breaking down and was too cowardly to tell him that it was okay, that I didn't care. I had to watch my mother get more and more desperate, even when I knew whatever crazy idea she had wouldn't work. Not to mention that I was in more pain than I have been since and probably ever will be again, from the chemo that left me sick for days.

"You ask me why I don't like hospitals? I set foot in one after that. Once. After I got past the lobby and into the corridors, it didn't matter how much older I was, or how far I had come. I was Eve again, the secret freak, the one who clung to her older brother like a drowning person, the one who lived in terror of being discovered, the one who was dying and didn't care. I ran as fast as I could. I've avoided hospitals ever since."

She looked him in the eyes, a brokenness behind them. "I don't care what you do to me, Dick. I will let these things tear apart my jaw before I set foot in a hospital again."

Dick didn't know what to say. He'd never seen her like this before. It seemed like she was always laughing, always hopeful, always looking for a better tomorrow and the best in others—except when it came to her own past.

"Okay."

"What?"

"I said, okay. We can work something out. We can drug you up so you don't even know where you are and make sure that trusted doctors perform the surgery. But Eve—you need to deal with that. I get that you're afraid, but you aren't who you used to be. Work through your fear, or at least learn to cope with it. Talk to Black Canary if you have to, but just deal with it."

Eve took several deep breaths before looking up and making eye contact with him. "Fine. I'll talk to her. But phobias aren't easy to get over, Dick. So if you make me go through with this, a few conditions."

"What are they?" he asked. He's slightly surprised and pleased that she's acquiesced so easily. Normally she would argue longer, even if it was just to make a point.

"One: I don't want to be conscious inside. I don't care what you do, just make sure that I can't tell when we're inside. Two: I don't want to stay any longer than necessary. As soon as it's over, _get me out of there._"

"Okay. You can recover at the cave."

"And three—" suddenly she's right in his face. "No. Photos. No photos, no videos, no evidence of any sort. This especially applies if whatever cocktail of drugs doesn't knock me out and I wind up acting like an idiot."

"How could you even think such a thing of me?" he asked, faking a horrified expression.

She doesn't buy it. "Because I know you're the biggest troll to ever walk the earth, Grayson. I want it in writing from every member of the Team, and Jason, for that matter."

He grumbled and prevaricated, but she finally managed to extract a promise. He knew that as soon as he got the chance, though, he'd do it anyway.

"Fine. I won't." _Not until you can't tell what I'm doing._ "You'll have to go to a dentist tomorrow for more x-rays, just to confirm this in the system. The day after that you can go in for surgery."

She made a face. "I'll go get started on the paper trail. Where are we now—Ohio?"

"Um, last one to forge a trail was Wally, and he used New York. So yeah, we're on Ohio now." Their system for paper trails worked using a different state each time, starting with Maine or Florida and working west from there, skipping every other state. It made it difficult for anyone to connect the dots between random kids from various states that popped in and out and random kids hiding secret identities.

"O-kay then. See you later, Rob." With that, she got to her feet, looking cool, calm, and utterly composed, and strolled away. No one who hadn't seen her fifteen minutes ago would probably even believe her breakdown had happened.

For the first time, Robin felt a healthy squick of fear mingled with respect, much like the tiny bit he had for Batman (Shh, don't tell anyone) grow in his chest.

* * *

**So yeah. Wisdom teeth. My brother had his out, and it honestly didn't look that bad, but what do I know? The idea of people yanking stuff out of my mouth freaks me out. So I kinda channeled that to write this scene. Eve's reaction might be a little over-the-top, but I honestly think she has a good reason to freak out. I mean, come on, she's **_**died**_** in a hospital.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed my version of Jason. He'll show up again soon.**

**Mailbox time!**

**Piggythelaw: Thanks for checking out A Thousand Days later! And I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I always thought that seeing big, tough Jason Todd with a crush would be the most adorable thing ever. **** The presents took me some thought, since I wanted to make them personal. Zatanna's present was a collection of Flying Grayson posters, just so you know.**

**Xemidemon: Thanks! While I don't mind BirdFlash, as long as it's well written and below M, Chalant is my favorite couple of all time.**

**Mango-Sama: Thanks for your review! And guest reviews are fine by me. I hope you manage to get back into your account soon. I think the filtering out Dick's name is a censorship deal, since it's in every review. And WOW. O_O You just totally worked out what I had in mind! Yeah, Night knows **_**exactly**_** what will happen to Jason (More or less…things do happen differently across universes…) but her not saying anything is more based off of a prevalent policy in Greek myths, which is that the harder you try to prevent the future, the more likely it is to actually happen, and she's just hoping that keeping quiet about the whole thing will work. The whole "collapse of reality" thing is good, though. I've actually written an epilogue for this story already to explain why she doesn't show up throughout Invasion, which is basically because Nightwing asks her for help when Jason vanishes, and when she turns up too late, he throws her out in a fit of anger. (Personal headcanon here is that she was dealing with the death of Charles Xavier in X-Men, The Last Stand, because I've kind of already established that she knows him.) **

**ANYWAY…same deal. Next chapter should be up in two days, although my laptop may have been confiscated by that point. So we'll see.**

**Ummm…not really much more to say about this chapter.**

**What else did I want to say?**

**Oh, yeah.**

**REVIEW!**


	13. Appointments and Arguments

**Gotham **

**December 8****th**

**9:32 EDT**

Eve stood at the front desk of Gentle Dental, located in downtown Gotham. Fortunately for her frayed nerves, the place bore more resemblance to a converted apartment than a hospital.

"Do you have an appointment?" the woman at the desk asked.

"Oh, um, Suzanne Lord, here to see Dr. Tang for a routine examination?" she said, making it sound like a question. The receptionist sighed and tapped away. "Yes, I have you down for this time. Unfortunately, the doctor is a bit behind. Would you mind waiting for a few minutes?"

"Not at all," she said. "Suzanne" turned around and took a seat in the reception area. A tabloid caught her eye, and she snatched it to read an article concerning Dick Grayson.

The magazine was a bit less than three weeks old. It showed pictures from the charity gala Bruce Wayne had thrown. She chuckled at the picture someone had managed to get of herself and Dick dancing. The caption read, _Richard Grayson—teen heartbreaker?_

The article went on to comment on the "mysterious heiress" who had vanished shortly afterwards. Blake was only mentioned in passing, as though they wanted to forget the whole distasteful affair.

"Miss Lord?"

It took Eve a moment to remind herself that she was "Miss Lord," and she looked up to see the dentist's assistant hovering over her.

"Oh, um, yes," she said, getting to her feet.

The assistant took her to a small room and had her lie down in the chair with the paper bib around her neck. She checked her mouth, asked a few routine questions, and left. The doctor entered a few minutes later.

"Okay, let's just take a look at your teeth," he said with a grin. The next ten minutes was probably one of the more torturous periods of time in her life. It had been a long time since she had to do this, and having a stranger's fingers in her mouth made her want to bite them off. She forced herself to remain calm and answer the questions in a way that would lead to him X-raying her. While she was in the room, before the actual scan could begin, she surreptitiously placed a bug on the computer. When the machine scanned her, as predicted, it started to fizz and spark. The nurse smacked it, complaining about "old equipment," and checked the computer to find the uploaded images Robin had sent of the x-rays they had taken back at the cave. They told her what she already knew—that she would need to have her wisdom teeth removed at Gotham General tomorrow. She nodded and agreed, and did her best not to twitch at the word "hospital." After collecting the documents that told her about the procedure and aftermath, she zeta-d back to the Cave to check in with the Team.

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**December 8****th**

**10:07 EDT**

"_Recognized: Nightwalker; B-one-zero."_

Eve walked into the mission room, looking around. There was no one to be seen, but a familiar emotional presence dropped from the ceiling and snuck up behind her. She spun, dropped to the floor, and hooked one leg around Robin's in an attempt to drop him. He jumped over the leg and started to pull off a maneuver that would end with him catapulting off of her back. She rolled out of the way and jumped to her feet. He landed on the floor where she had been with a tad less than his usual grace, but quickly regained his composure. Before he could launch another attack, she threw the file she had been given at his head. He grabbed it, and she sensed someone else drop from the rafters behind her. Faster than she had ever expected to move, she spun and aimed a punch at Jason's head.

The next Robin ducked with reflexes that were a clear sign of training with Dick and aimed a blow at her midsection. Eve twisted out of the way and forcefully shoved him on the back, sending him tumbling forward, which he quickly turned into a somersault and bounced to his feet, staggering a bit on the way up.

"Keep your arms tucked in!" Dick called as he perused the file.

"Shut _up,_ Grayson," the two combatants said at the same time. Nightwalker balanced on the balls of her feet, prepared to dodge if he rushed her. It didn't take long, and she jumped to the side, tucking and rolling into a jump that, augmented by her flight, carried her onto the training floor.

"Care to join me, Todd?" she asked.

He smirked and launched himself at her, aiming for her midsection again. This time she ducked and aimed a kick at his knees that sent him toppling to the floor.

"_Jason Todd: Fail."_ The computer announced.

"You sure are," Robin said with a smirk. "Ow!" A filched birdarang launched from Jason's hand to whack him on the side of the head.

"You deserved that," Eve remarked. She helped Jason to his feet. "Nice work, by the way. Get better at jumping."

He grumbled something with a very bad word thrown in. Dick looked up from the papers to glare at Nightwalker through his shades.

"I swear I didn't teach him that," she said, holding her hands up.

"Like you could," Jason scoffed.

Eve rolled her eyes and muttered a phrase so raw Dick winced. Jason looked mildly impressed, but covered it with a scowl.

"I went to the damn dentist and made the damn appointment. Are you satisfied now?"

"You're not just going to hide and sneak off somewhere, are you?" Dick asked.

"Nooooo…"

He rolled his eyes. "You know, there's still a tracker in your neck."

She muttered something that was no doubt very bad, and stalked away in the direction of her room.

"She'll try and do it anyway, won't she?" Jason asked, rubbing his elbow.

"Course she will. Which is why we'll have to put knockout gas in the vents near her room tonight."

Jason got an evil grin on his face. "I can't _wait_ to join this team."

"Jason?" A voice called. Troia flew into the room and a blush crept over his cheeks.

Dick elbowed him. "Now you _really_ can't wait to join this team."

"Shut _up,_ Grayson."

* * *

**Okay, this chapter is kind of short, but since I am very quickly catching up to what I have written for the rest of December, it has to be. And I will also be delaying the next update for three days instead of two. Sorry! I'm working on five different sections of this story right now as I get inspiration for events taking place during different parts of the year. A Thousand Days Later will be updated right after this, though.**

**Tomorrow is Easter, so happy Easter to anyone who celebrates it.**

**Mailbox time!**

**Piggythelaw: They call them wisdom teeth because you don't get them until you're older, and supposedly, wiser. And yes, yes it is. I figure that she's had way too much practice developing it. Thank you for the digital hugs! Happily, my laptop was not confiscated.**

**Mango-sama: Yeah. I try and avoid actually writing out the swears too much. Um, that is a really good question! Here's my view of the thing. I figure that M'gann, Conner, and Robin know. M'gann because she got it from a memory of Eve's actual death, Conner because M'gann told him, and Robin because he saw that interview she had with Batman and MM when she was on truth serum and had to admit that she died. The not mentioning the whole grave-thing is partly because she doesn't want to explain it to the whole Team, and partly because it's really personal and private. **

**Yeah, Jason never really does catch a break. And when you consider that all his misfortunes started with a phone poll that just barely decided on his 'death,' you feel really, really sorry for him. No, Nightwalker will not be back for Invasion. Any stories I do with this character, I try to work with outside of established canon, because most of the time I like the stories and won't try to change them. Plus, it would be too much work. So if I do another YJ story with her, it will start after the Season 2 finale. I probably will write an X-men story eventually, but only once I've finished this and the Girl in the Fedora. That's gonna take a while.**


	14. The Effects of Anesthesia

**Gotham General**

**December 9****th**

**11:48 EDT**

Dick strolled into the hospital. Apparently, Eve's surgery was done, but she was still out of it, so Alfred had offered to pick her up.

Dr. Leslie was standing at the counter. In order to make sure that none of the other doctors had to deal with a meta and get curious, she had supervised the surgery as a favor to Bruce. Now she was keeping an eye on the out-of-it girl while Dick made his way over.

"What about that one?" he heard the Doctor ask as she pointed at a woman in the waiting area looking uncomfortable.

Eve actually _giggled._ "She's nervous because she has to see her gyn—gyne—gynecology."

"What's happening here?" Dick asked, strolling over.

"Robbie!" Eve squealed. She gave him a big hug.

Dr. Leslie smirked at him. "Well, after the surgery, she lost her shields and started screaming, so I injected her with that special mind-blocking drug to keep her from sensing the rest of the patients. She moved on to babbling about secret identities, so I figured I'd better distract her. Apparently she's much more sensitive in this state. Even with the drugs, she can still tell what people are feeling and why they're here. It's rather interesting. Don't suppose you'd let me borrow her once she's lucid?"

Dick squirmed out of Eve's hold and kept one hand on her arm. "Had to promise to drug her off her feet before she'd even agree to come. She's not a big fan of hospitals."

Suddenly, there was a sharp yank and Eve stalked over to a man and a bruised young boy who had just entered. She glared at them, then punched the man.

"How do you like it, huh?" she yelled.

"Oh, dammit, Eve," Dick muttered. He ran over and hauled her away. The little boy was yelling something about how he had fallen, it was all his fault, don't hurt Daddy…

"Enough!" Leslie declared. "Dick, get her out of here. I'll clear it with the paperwork. You, sir—"

"That bitch is crazy! She doesn't know what she's talking about!"

"Sir, I'm going to have to take your son to the ER. If you could just—"

"He doesn't need no stinking ER! The kid's clumsy, is all!"

Two guards came up behind the man and put their hands on his shoulders. "Sir, could you come with us, please?"

"Get your stinkin' paws off me!"

Dick missed the rest of the argument as he took Eve outside. She was scowling at the man, who was now trying to hit two of the big, burly guards. More of them were entering in an attempt to subdue him.

The car was pulled up at the curb. Alfred was sitting at the wheel, one eyebrow raised at the commotion inside.

"Ah, Master Richard. I pray that Mistress Eve was not the source of that... incident?"

"Hi, Alfie!" Eve said with a giggle.

"Oh, dear," he murmured.

"Drop us at the Zeta tube, Alfred. I think it's probably better for Eve to recover at Mt. Justice."

"As you say." Alfred pulled out of the parking space.

The rest of the ride was both interesting and embarrassing as Eve blabbered on about the emotional states of people in the passing cars, punctuated by short bursts of songs from musicals. Dick just sighed and restrained himself from beating his head against the window only through great effort. And he could swear that he saw Alfred's mustache twitching in the rearview mirror.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you," he said to the butler.

"Master Richard, I can assure you that I have absolutely no idea what on earth you are talking about," Alfred said with a straight face.

"You're lying," Eve announced. "But it's a funny lie."

"A 'funny' lie?" Alfred asked.

"I think she can sense your amusement," Dick grumbled.

"A-moos-ment," Eve said, smiling. "Hey, you know what happens to cows when they tell a joke? They're amoosed!"

Dick just let out a loud groan.

"If I recall, Master Dick, these effects are supposed to last six hours," Alfred said with a twinkle in his eye. "It seems inadvisable to leave her alone for that time."

There was a poke in his side, and Dick turned to see Eve uncomfortably close to him.

"Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills," she said with a lunatic grin. She started to sing the "Just Keep Swimming" ditty from Finding Nemo.

Dick had never been so glad to pull up to the disguised Zeta tube.

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**December 9****th**

**12:07 EDT**

"_Recognized: Robin; B-zero-one. Nightwalker; B-one-zero."_

Tula, Garth, Wally, and Kaldur were practicing in the training room when the Zeta tubes announced the arrival of their teammates. They turned to see Eve attempting to spin Robin in a circle.

"Whee!" She sang. Her cheeks were swollen and stuffed with gauze, but her giggles were clearly audible. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do you do? You swim, swim, swim…"

"Please take her off my hands!" Robin begged. "She's been going on like this for the past ten minutes!"

"Whoa!" Wally asked. "What's she on?"

"Is she…well?" Tula asked. It didn't seem like an unreasonable question, given the extremely out-of-character behavior she was exhibiting.

"What happened?" Garth asked.

"She had her wisdom teeth pulled out and she's pretty loopy from the medication. She just really needs to get to bed."

"I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night, and still have begged for more…."

"She _really_ needs to go to bed."

"No, I don't, silly. Hey, fish sticks!"

"What?" Garth and Tula asked simultaneously.

Wally laughed and Kaldur sighed and covered his face with one hand. "You do not wish to know. Trust me."

"Look, I just need to get her to her room. Can you help me?"

Tula stepped forward and took a firm grasp on Eve's arm, escorting her down the hallway to the residential rooms as the empath babbled on about fish sticks and dancing. The Atlantian lost her grip when Eve started to sing "Defying Gravity" and flew up to the ceiling.

Dick let out a loud groan. Wally, who was still laughing, covered his mouth. "Please tell me you have a camera."

"She extracted a promise in writing that I wouldn't take any pictures or videos while she was out of it."

Wally got an evil grin. "She didn't make me promise."

The former acrobat snorted. "You really want to have to deal with an angry Eve when she's back to herself?"

The speedster winced. "Good point. So how _are _we going to get her to cooperate?"

The evil grin currently spreading over Robin's face was not reassuring in the least. "Jason and I planted knockout gas in the vents by her room so we could get her into the hospital this morning. There's some left. We just need to get her to her bed and get out of there so I can activate it and let her sleep off the drugs."

"Whee!" Eve was now making dive-bomb swoops at the floor. Wally ran over and grabbed her right before she could hit it.

"Got it. Going." He zipped off down the hall with the giggling girl in his arms. Dick followed, shaking his head.

"Put me down, Jeeves! I have a viola lesson to get to!"

"A _what?_"

"C'mon, Callie, don't you remember? Beth will kill me if I'm late!"

"What did you call me?'

"I gotta get my viola! Where'd you hide it?"

"Okay, I'm just going to put you down now…"

Dick watched as Wally zipped out of the room and shut the door. "Go, go, go!"

The Boy Wonder pressed a button that would release the sleeping gas. A faint hiss came from the vents. After counting to sixty to give the gas time to disperse, he checked inside.

Eve was lying on her bed, sound asleep.

Dick let out a loud, exaggerated sigh of relief. "Thank you, God," he said to the empty air. A wicked smile crept over his face. "You know…I only promised I wouldn't videotape whatever drug-induced antics happened. I didn't promise that I would turn off security footage."

Wally grinned evilly. "I'll get the popcorn."

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**December 9****th**

**17:11 EDT**

Eve let out a loud groan of pain and disgust, raising her hand to her swollen cheeks. "Ih feelsh like shomeshing crawled into my mouf, slished up my scheeks, and died." (It feels like something crawled into my mouth, sliced up my cheeks, and died.)

Robin chuckled. "I don't think you'll be able to clean it out anytime soon."

She glared at him. "The only reashon oo're shtill alive ish becaush I know oo have pain medsh. Gimmee." (The only reason you're still alive is because I know you have pain meds. Give me.)

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She tried to scowl and winced. "Medsh."

He held out a glass of water and two pills. "Don't bite."

Eve snatched them out of his hand and dry swallowed them, waiting for them to kick in before downing the glass of water. "****. Why did I agree to do thish?"

"Because otherwise it would hurt much more when they grew in crooked."

"I don't care."

"Are you okay now?" he asked, looking at her with worry. "You were freaking out yesterday and this morning when we—sedated you."

"You mean put shleeping gash in my ventsh?" she asked, with a dry smirk before putting a hand to her face. _"****._"

"Is there a particular reason you freaked out so much?" he asked her.

"Like I shaid, I don't like hoshpitalsh."

"No. There's more to it than that."

She glared at him. "If I tell you, will you go away and let me go back to shleep?"

"Sure."

She sighed and leaned back onto her pillows. "I didn't know about thish. I didn't know theshe thingsh would come in. If I couldn't tell they were here—" her voice shook at this. "How would I be able to tell if I get cansher again? I'm not shupposhed to—I shcanned thish body before going into it—but I washn't shupposhed to have wishdom teeth either. What if—what if it comesh back?" A few tears had sprung up in her eyes. She wiped roughly at them, and swore as her hand brushed her tender, swollen cheek. "****. **** theshe teeth, **** thish body, and **** the shtupid medsh. Now go away and let me shleep." She turned over and refused to look at Robin.

There wasn't really much to say to that. So Dick just said, quietly, "Good night," and left the room.

Wally was waiting outside. "Well?"

"She's still pretty cid from the meds."

"Cid? Wait, no, don't answer that."

"Take the 'lu' off of 'cid.' Or should you take 'cid' off of 'lu'?" the Boy Wonder wondered aloud. "Either way, she's aware, but she's babbling. No mouth filter. And she's depressed now."

"Depressed?"

"Heavy on the 'de.' Maybe we should do something nice for her."

"Hey, Christmas is coming up."

* * *

**And there it is. Drugged Eve is embarrassing for Robin. Apologies for both the late update and any loss in quality.**

**Oh, and I just saw The Winter Soldier.**

**IT. WAS. EPIC!**

**And now I am freaking out and waiting with bated breath for Avengers 2. Not sure if they'll screw with the backstories or do an X-men crossover. Praying that it's the crossover, since screwing with backstories is more DC's style, but having everyone appear onscreen is seriously expensive, so...  
**

**Um, something is happening that has not happened in a while. I actually do not have the next chapter written out, and so I have to finish it before I post it. So I don't know when I will be able to post it. I can promise that it will be up by Saturday, but any time before that is unknown.**

**I am sorry. I am so, so, sorry.**

**On a related note, what do you think would happen if the Team played paintball?**

**Mailbox time!**

**Zatanna Carrile: I used your idea, which is **_**why**_** it's taking me so long to get the next chapter written. I also like writing Jason.**

**Prettykitty luvs u: Thanks. And yeah, all my experience with Jason comes from either that movie or fanfiction. **

**Eesanchez: Thanks! I always thought it would be interesting. Oh, and I counted and got six.**

**Piggythelaw: It's not just you. And teeth in general are weird. It's just like—these bits of bone that stick out of your flesh that we use to mash things up in order to make it easier to destroy them with acid. Yeah, Jason's getting better, and Dick is having waaaay too much fun being the evil big brother. **

**Xemidemon: Thanks, and it's okay! Yeah, the cellphone version may or may not be evil or part of The Conspiracy…Question's looking into it right now. **

**Mango-Sama: Thank you! I like writing Jason, mainly because I like having the freedom to work with him. That's also why I write OCs. And yes, Dick is becoming an evil big brother right on schedule and Eve is a bad influence as always. You actually went back and checked? I'm both flattered and now slightly paranoid as to whether or not I'm actually managing to stay consistent in my writing… And thank you for being so understanding about my writing schedule! The Girl in the Fedora is honestly one of my more difficult stories to write, and I'm glad you're so patient with the updates.**


	15. Paintball, Part 1

**Mt. Justice**

**December 15****th**

**12:32 EDT**

It was the first Saturday of winter break, and everyone was hanging around the Cave. Well, technically, only Jason, who was at the Cave yet _again_ was actually hanging out on a relaxing manner. Everyone else was waiting for Black Canary, who had promised them an 'interesting' training exercise. The male members were more than a little concerned at the terrifying smirks the girls had all gotten at this pronouncement. At the moment, they were all in the corner, whispering and giggling over what sounded like battle plans. The boys were starting to grow very, very, scared.

"_Recognized: Black Canary; one-three."_

Black Canary shifted the large box in her arms to smile at them. "Hey, guys. Ready for training?"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Yes!"

"Sweet!"

"Victory is at hand!"

"I knew letting you watch that movie was a mistake…"

"What are we doing?"

Wally sped over and opened the box as their trainer set it down. He grinned as he pulled out an object with a long barrel and several tubes. "Paintball! Sweet!"

"What is…paintball?" Donna asked, picking up one of the guns. She accidentally brushed the trigger, and both she and Tula yelped as a small pink sphere shot out of the barrel and directly at the Atlantian, who barely dove out of the way in time. Artemis was quick to gingerly lift the gun out of her teammate's hands.

"Please, be careful with that device," Tula entreated as she rubbed the knee she had landed badly on.

"I second that sentiment," Garth responded, helping his friend to her feet. "What is that, anyway?"

"Paintball," Conner said suddenly, in the tone of voice that signaled he would be announcing something Cadmus had taught him. "A sport in which players compete, either on teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with gelatin capsules composed of a non-toxic, biodegradable, water-soluble polymer. It is regularly played at sporting level in addition to being used by military, law enforcement, para-military and security organizations to supplement training. Games are played out on a field scattered with various forms of natural and artificial terrain."

Everyone stared at the clone for a moment. "Thank you, Conner," Canary said. "That is an excellent description. And while you're welcome to play a game afterwards, that isn't the point of today's exercise."

Eve immediately noticed the sheer relief radiating off of Robin and slipped over to him. "Not fond of guns?"

He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Hey, I get shot at on a nightly basis."

"Nice try. Half true, I'd bet. But not the whole truth." She smirked at him as she echoed his words from before. "But we'll discuss that later." They returned their concentration to Black Canary, who was demonstrating the paintball markers to those who'd never used them before. After everyone had one and she was sure that there would be no more misfires, she had them stand in a line as she explained the exercise.

"While most of the time it's likely that you'll be battling supervillains and their henchmen, you also need to plan for other scenarios, such as defending civilians or downed teammates in a battle zone."

The original members winced, remembering a simulation gone badly wrong.

"Which is why this exercise is taking place outside. Suit up, polar stealth. Ten minutes. Jason, I was told to offer you the chance to join, in which case you'll need to find your own gear."

"I can loan him some," Robin offered.

"In that case, I'm totally up for it." He turned around and followed the older kid out of the Cave as the rest of them filed out.

* * *

It took them all about ten minutes to assemble outside the mountain. Tempest and Aquagirl both wore versions of their normal costumes with long pants in shades of white and pale grey. Troia had replaced the black of her costume with white, leaving the silver accents. Nightwalker had forsaken her fedora for grey snow pants and an overlarge white hoodie.

"This is an offense-defense exercise. No open guerilla warfare, although stealth tactics are encouraged," Black Canary announced as they lined up. "Each team will take turns choosing an area and defending it and several downed co-soldiers. The goal of the defending team is to last until I say the exercise is over. The goal of the attacking team is to take prisoners-of-war. Powers are allowed, but be pragmatic. Assume that you will have to last an indefinite amount of time without backup supplies and conserve your energy accordingly. Teams are boys vs. girls."

"Yes!"

"Oh, crud…"

Black Canary allowed herself a small smile at the various reactions. "First round, girls are defending. Nightwalker, Miss Martian, Zatanna—you're all incapacitated this round. Assume that you're unable to defend yourselves or fight. No powers either. Troia, Rocket, Aquagirl, Artemis—you'll be defending. You have ten minutes to find a defensible position. Remain within a mile radius of the Cave." She handed each of the girls she had named as defenders a paintball marker. "You're allowed to try and incapacitate each other. NO head shots. You fire a head shot and you'll be out of the game before you can blink. Incapacitating shots do apply. Ergo, you get shot in the leg, you don't use that leg. No cheating."

She shot them all a measuring look and allowed a small smile to creep over her lips. "Oh, and the overall winning team gets a week off of training. Go."

They girls all traded looks and ran or flew off into the woods. Black Canary handed each of the boys a paintball gun. "Your goal is to find where they've made their base and attack. Same rule: no kill shots. Just incapacitate them and take prisoners. And Robin—"

"What?' he asked.

She shot him a smirk. "No ninja-ing your way into the camp. I meant it when I said no guerilla warfare."

"But you also said that stealth tactics are encouraged. Are they suddenly not-couraged?"

Black Canary let out a sigh. "Sneaking up on them from behind and dropping into their camp is _not_ encouraged, no. Find some other way to get it done."

"Yeah, Rob. No doing the ninja thing," Wally said.

The red-head had a feeling that his best friend was rolling his eyes behind the cliché domino mask.

"Fine. Can we start now?"

Black Canary checked her watch. "You have five minutes. I suggest you use them to work on strategy. I'll blow the whistle when it starts."

She turned around and walked away.

"So what are we going to do?" Wally asked, turning back to them.

Jason got an evil look and pumped the marker. "Win."

* * *

**1 mile from Mt. Justice**

**December 15****th**

**12:56 EDT**

The girls had found a clearing with a rock formation in the center and made it their base. The three 'invalids' had set themselves up in the easily defensible cave at the center of the formation.

"Well?" Rocket asked. "What do we know?"

Artemis dropped to the ground. "Recon shows four likely paths they'll use to get in. Two are booby-trapped now and Tula's working on making the third impassable. It'll force them to funnel through towards us on…" she turned and pointed one finger at a small pathway leading into the trees. "That. So be ready to bring down hell on them."

Troia examined the paintball marker. "How many shots do we have?"

"And you know Rob's going to do the ninja thing," a voice called from inside the rocks.

"Which is why he's the primary target," Artemis confirmed. "And shut up and act sick."

There was a moment of silence, and then a chorus of coughs and groans started to roll out. "Oh no, we're dying, _dying_ I tell you! I can feel the breath slipping from my body…_cough cough._" There were muffled giggles before the voice started up again. "Tell my family…I love them…" Another dry hacking cough echoed around the clearing as the girls who were defending rolled their eyes. "Rose…bud…" _Thud._

"A Citizen Kane joke? Really, Eve?" Artemis asked.

"Hey, look who recognized it."

The piercing sound of a whistle rose over the trees, and everyone momentarily froze before jumping into action. Artemis traded glances with Troia and gestured at the trees. The other girl nodded and rose into the one directly to the left of the only safe path. Artemis pointed at Rocket and told her, "Guard the invalids. Be ready to target Robin if he gets anywhere near you."

A rustling and crackling immediately caught their attention. They all looked at each other in shock before Artemis vaulted up into the tree directly to the right of the one Troia was in, and aimed her marker at the direction of the rustling.

The archer held up three fingers where Troia could see them, counting down as the rustling got closer. _Three…two…one…fire!_

The two of them both shot off several paintballs at the approaching target. A high-pitched shriek echoed through the clearing, causing them both to lower their weapons and feel very sheepish.

Aquagirl stood there, her arms, legs, and lower torso covered with several splotches of pink and green paint. Her normally kind face looked very annoyed.

"Is there a reason for this?" she asked.

"I'm so sorry, Tula," Artemis called.

Black Canary appeared out of nowhere, nearly startling Donna out of the tree. She chuckled at the sight of Tula.

"Well, at least you didn't hit her head. Sorry, Tula, but friendly fire counts. You're out. Join the others wherever they are. You two, good shots, but next time make sure you know who it is before you blast them."

Artemis and Troia let out a loud groan at their dual stupidity. Artemis in particular wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Her attempt to lead had gone badly wrong. Now they were down four instead of three, and it was all her fault.

"Tula! Join the party!" someone called.

"Come to the dark side. We have cookies!"

Black Canary hid her smile. "You might not want to alert the enemy to your current location, girls. Speaking of which…they should be here soon." She turned and slipped back into the trees.

A green hand stuck out of a hole and gave a quick wave, alerting Tula to the location of the cave before it slipped back inside. The Atlantian made her way over to join them.

Artemis felt a nudge at her mind. _:Go away, M'gann.:_

_:It's Eve. I'm just borrowing M'gann. Artemis, that wasn't your fault.:_

_:What are you talking about? Of course it was! I was trying to be the leader, trying to be responsible, and—:_

_:Okay, so maybe it was slightly your fault. But quit beating yourself up and focus. Hit Wally with plenty of paintballs. That should make you feel better.:_ With that, the link went down and Artemis was left sitting on the branch with a loaded marker and a feral grin.

_That sounds like a plan._

* * *

Robin jumped lightly from one branch to the next, not in the least hindered by the paintball gun—no, _marker_, he had to think of it as a marker. Maybe then it would get easier to hang onto.

He hated it. He hated it only slightly less than he hated a real gun. It felt absolutely, totally wrong.

Bruce hated guns too. He knew that. And the older man had a valid reason—a gun was the reason he had lost his parents and become Batman, after all.

But there was more to it than that. Dick had learned hatred of guns over the years spent patrolling Gotham streets.

It wasn't just that they killed people. Plenty of everyday things kill people, but he didn't hate them. No, no. It's how guns change people, and never for the better.

An insecure street punk gets his hands on a gun, and the next day, he's swaggering around, bold and cocky, shooting people just because he can. That's what the gun was made for, after all. To be something anyone can just pick up and use. No training needed, no discipline to ensure it won't be misused.

Robin grabbed a branch to swing around and keep himself moving forward and winced as a pain shot down his arm. Last night's patrol hadn't gone well, and a bullet had left a nasty gash on his skin.

Bruce had threatened to bench him. He had threatened to go out on his own if the man did. They had been left at an impasse, and the argument had not ended with either of them happy.

So now, here he was, jumping through the trees for a training exercise, ready to use something he absolutely hated.

Robin landed on the branch of a tree a safe distance from the clearing Conner had used super-hearing to confirm the girls were staying in and let out a sigh.

_Here we go._

* * *

**Uggghhhh…okay, I'm just going to say it now. I'm not happy with this chapter. I think it could have been better, I think there's more I need to say, and there's more that I will say, but for now, I'm htting the deadline and I need to get this posted. Apologies for any loss in quality.**

**And more apologies: I don't have the next chapter written yet. Usually I try to keep a couple chapters ahead of my posting, but this time I didn't, and I have to go back to school Monday. So I am sorry. I'm so, so, sorry, but it'll probably be another week before I get the next one up. Especially considering that I'm also working really hard on "A Thousand Days Later." So sorry again.**

**Leave me a nice review, OK? I really need the motivation right now.**

**Mango-Sama: Yeah. Hospitals in big cities usually have a lot of orderlies or security around the waiting room at any given time. And I really enjoyed writing a drugged-off-her-mind Eve. I still **_**so**_** wish I'd thought of the Tempest thing, though.**

**Xemidemon: Thank you so much! And yeah, I threw that comment in there just to torture G &amp; T. I felt even worse for kalsur, who actually knew what she was talking about.**

**Piggythelaw: Yes! Teeth are fun to have weird conversations about. My family always shuts me down when I try to talk about them, though. Perhaps because I always bring them up at dinner… I'm glad you liked this chapter.**


	16. Paintball, part 2

**Woods Outside Mt. Justice**

**December 15****th**

**13:02 EDT**

Wally ran along the path at low speeds, trying not to skid on the snow.

For the record, he hated this plan. Hated. It. But, unfortunately, he had been overruled.

So now he was racing along, trying not to twitch, waiting for…

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" He tripped over a cord and went skidding across the ground, getting tangled up in nets.

"Well, well, well," said a low, snarky voice. "What do we have here?"

_Oh, crap_.

Wally looked up to see his evil, evil, girlfriend standing over him, a wide grin on her face and paintball gun at the ready.

"Gotcha."

A moment later and he was being pelted with paint. Legs, mostly, to take him out of the game. Oh, well. At least it was green. Artemis had green, right?

He opened his eyes and let out a groan when he saw how wrong he was. From the neck down, he was entirely covered with pink paint.

Artemis shot him a deceptively cheerful smile. "Swapped guns with Troia. Have fun getting out!"

With that, she vanished.

Wally gritted his teeth. _Oh, great plan, ROB. That better have been enough of a distraction for you._

* * *

Troia was perched in the tree, waiting for Artemis to get back and guarding the only open path. The others were both trapped and alarmed, with some strange devices the archer had in her quiver. When an alert had gone off at high speed, Artemis had insisted on getting to be the one who took down Wally. Troia had agreed, and remained behind in a guard position. So now she was in the treetops, waiting for…something.

A lump of cold wetness struck her neck and she yelped. She was _not_ waiting for that.

Having a pretty good idea who threw it, she spun on the branch, maintaining her balance, and glared down at Jason Todd. He was dressed in a white and grey version of the Robin costume, but he had left the hood off, sticking with a domino mask. His red hair went everywhere, so he looked a bit like an odd cross between Robin and Wally.

She swung up her marker and aimed at him. "Don't move!" she shouted.

He gave her a cheeky grin. His hands were tucked behind his back.

Oh, what had they said in that show Artemis watched with the man who acted like a child but somehow worked with law enforcement? There had been an officer, tall and grumpy, and he was always waving a gun around and shouting at criminals…oh, yes.

"Hands in the air!" she yelled down at him.

Jason shrugged and raised his hands, too late, she realized that he had another snowball in hand. Before she could react, he threw it.

It hit her square in the face. Gasping and spluttering, she slipped off the branch and landed in a pile of snow as his mocking laugh rang in her ears. He would have to pay.

"_Jason!"_ she yelled, rising out of the snowbank. The boy seemed to grasp how much trouble he was in as his eyes went wide and he took off running. She chased after him, forgetting that she was supposed to be guarding the path.

Jason Todd was going to pay.

* * *

Kaldur watched from the woods with Garth and Conner. Wally and Jason had apparently fulfilled their objectives—that is to say, distracting the two girls on guard. Tula was nowhere in sight, but Conner had confirmed that he could hear five people breathing from inside the cave. So she was probably on guard as well.

"I will take the path," Kaldur said softly. He gestured at the tree Troia had been in to indicate where he would go. "You two go after Aquagirl, Rocket, and the hostages."

Conner nodded. "We'd better move before Artemis gets back. She's already on her way here. And Robin's in position."

Kaldur nodded. "Then go."

* * *

The five girls were all sitting in the cave, being fairly quiet and chatting via mindlink. They couldn't use it as part of the exercise, but they could use it for casual conversation. Right in the middle of Zatanna's story about the first time she had used her magic, Raquel's head snapped up.

"It's quiet out there. Like, really quiet. Just hang tight till I get back, kay?" With that, she stood up and left the cave. Five seconds later, shouting broke out and an inertia bubble appeared over the opening, going all around them. They all scrambled to the hole, looking at what was going on.

Conner and Garth were engaged in a fight with Raquel, who was maintaining a bubble over herself as well. Conner was punching it, which probably wasn't the wisest course of action, and Garth was striking it with electricity. They were ignoring the girls in the hole completely.

"Kaldur's in the trees," M'gann observed. "I can't see Robin, Jason, or Wally though."

"They'll probably try and distract Raquel," Tula said. "Maintaining the force bubbles requires all her concentration, correct?"

"Yes, and—_look out!_" M'gann telekinetically threw the others away from the force field as it vanished and a splatter of paint shot directly in. It burst against her chest in a wash of dark red.

_Red as blood._

"It's just paint, M—" Eve cut herself off as she sensed a massive spike of revulsion, horror, guilt, and self-hatred from outside. _Oh, no…_

She spun around to see Robin standing there, a paintgun in his hands. He met her eyes and dropped it, looking horrified.

Before he could run away, she instantly sent a wash of calm at him, overwhelming his other panicked emotions. He managed to hold still, but he was still staring wide-eyed at M'gann.

Without a second thought, Eve climbed out of the hole, grabbed Robin's arm, and headed for the woods. Black Canary appeared out of nowhere, a frown on her face.

"Gun. Red paint. Trauma," Eve said, bluntly.

She knew that the older woman didn't miss the way Robin twitched at the word 'gun', or the shocked look on his face. She just pursed her lips, nodded, and stepped aside.

"You're both excused from the training exercise. Be back at the Mountain in an hour."

Eve nodded, and continued dragging Robin off.

They had walked for five minutes and gained some considerable distance by the time she was willing to let him go. Quickly, before he could shut himself down and try to lock away his emotions to work through at a more convenient time, she…well…overrided his emotional shutdown codes, is the best way to put it, so he had no choice be to feel. Eve stood at the edge of the clearing and watched as he stood stock-still, making a mental countdown.

_Five…four…three…two…one_

"What did I just do?" he whispered. "What did I just _do?_" he repeated in a yell.

Eve resisted the urge to check her watch. _Full emotional breakdown, right on schedule._

"No one's hurt, Robin," she said, calmly even though she knew he wouldn't listen.

"I shot M'gann!" he yelled. "I _shot_ her!"

He went on for a few minutes like that, just freaking out. She stood and watched him, keeping a close emotional eye on the situation. As soon as he had reached the point where his expressions of guilt and anguish had moved past 'healthy release of buildup' to 'hyperventilation', she walked over and smacked him.

Across the face.

She wasn't even going to try to deny that she enjoyed it.

"Done?" she asked him, shutting off her 'override' so he could get a grip on his emotions.

He managed to do so in a very short amount of time. One minute later, he was taking deep, calm, breaths and no longer ranting at himself.

"I think so."

"Feel better?"

"Yes."

"Stop lying."

Robin let out a loud huff of air. _The downsides of being friends with an empath…_

"No."

"Oh, good. Therapy time."

"Do we have to?" He hated the way it came out like a whine.

She turned a steely gray gaze on him. "You know the answer to that."

He rolled his eyes and backflipped up onto the branch of a tree, climbing until he reached a wide branch approximately 25 feet off the ground. Old habit from his circus days. He always felt safer higher up.

Eve followed him up and landed next to him, gazing out at the snow-covered woods. The faint shrieks and laughter drifted from where their friends were fighting a mock battle. It had obviously turned into more of a game by this point. Eve was silent, waiting for the Boy Wonder to make the first move.

"They don't get it," he said, harshly. "They think it's a game. Even Jason—he grew up in _Crime Alley._ He saw what guns can do, and—" he shook his head, a combination of disgust and sorrow bringing bile to his throat. "He's out there, using one right now, and _having fun._" Dick shook his head, taking a deep breath. "I can't—I don't—" he sighed and took another breath. "And I'm being paranoid and overprotective and completely not-traught about this, aren't I?"

"A bit," Eve admitted, when it was clear he wanted an answer. "But I'd say it's more of a good-sense-gone-out-of-control thing, coupled with a very sensible fear of guns."

"I'm not afraid," Dick said automatically. He glared at her as she threw her hands up in the air. "I'm _not!_"

"Oh, for the love of—" She stopped herself before she could finish the sentence and took a deep breath. And another. And another. "One, you of all people know how pointless it is to lie to me about emotions. Two, fear is the body's natural response to something that could get you harmed or killed. If you _weren't_ at least _slightly_ afraid about something you face down nearly every night and get shot with at least once a month, I would worry about whether you took twelve or so hard hits to the head when I wasn't looking."

"I'm Batman's partner. I should be able to—"

"What? Ignore your body's needs so far as to the risk of death?" From the glare she was giving him, he knew he was in trouble. "If I find out you've been doing that, I will sic Wally, Zatanna, Babs, _and_ Alfred on you at the same time."

He stared at her. "You wouldn't." That was below the belt—_way_ below.

"Try me." She sighed and shook her head. "And before you even _start_ to go off on the whole Batman's-partner thing, I'm just going to remind you that the man has an absolute, full-blown _phobia_ of guns."

"He has a good reason," Dick muttered, looking at the trees.

"Did I say he didn't? But so do you. Dick, how many times have you been shot?"

He shrugged and she sighed. "You don't even remember. I'd say that's a perfectly natural reason to have a fear of guns."

"It's not just that!" he snapped. "You've seen what guns can do. I've seen what guns can do. You don't need any training or discipline to use a gun. They were made to make killing easy. If a kid gets their hand on a gun, they can make a full-blown gang war break out with one shot, and not care who gets caught in the crossfire." His voice was starting to shake. "A paintball gun isn't much different. And I just used one to shoot M'gann."

She kept a careful eye to make sure he wasn't going to flip out again. "She wasn't hurt. She won't even have the paint on her for long."

"That's not the point!"

Eve winced. _Why do I always do that?_

"So what is the point?"

Dick said nothing, just staring at the trees. It was a while before he spoke again. "I don't want to become what I fight."

Eve sucked in a breath and released it. _Finally._

She didn't say that out loud, though.

Gently, she extended an arm to reach around his shoulders. He refused to look up.

"Dick," she said, softly. "Look at me."

He did, after a minute or two.

"Dick, by the very fact that you're _aware_ of it, you've already given yourself the very reason you will never be like that." She spoke in a quiet, gentle tone, trying to make him calm down. It occurred to her that perhaps it was slightly ridiculous for her to be comforting a sixteen-year-old like this.

_Screw it, I'm four years older than him. _

"How do you know that?" he asked her.

She pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you want to?"

"Do I want to what?"

"Do you want to use a gun?"

"_No_!"

"Then you won't." She spoke this with absolute certainty. "Dick, you realize that you're one of the most annoying, irritating, trollish, irrational, infuriating, exasperating, obstinate…" she paused. "Where was I going with this?"

That actually managed to get a chuckle out of him, and she grinned. "Oh yeah. Stubborn. That's where I was going with that. Dick, if there's one thing you are, it's stubborn. Stubborn and obstinate enough to cling onto your beliefs through everything that may happen. I know you, and I know that when you promise something, you mean it. So I have absolutely no doubt in your conviction to never use a gun. If you say you won't, then you won't. I trust you."

"What if I change my mind?" he whispered.

She was about to make a joke when she felt the fear coming off of him. He was really terrified of this—the prospect of changing, or being changed, into someone that would use a gun to hurt and kill.

"Then that's what you have friends for," Eve told him softly. "To watch for you and make sure you don't."

They sat there in silence for a while, listening to the others laugh.

"Hey, Eve?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

* * *

**YES! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!**

**Who conquered writer's block? THIS GIRL!**

**The muses have been kind to me this week. I have this chapter, a new chapter for ATDL, and some progress on TGITF written out. Celebrate!**

**And more good news: Updates will be regular for a while! At least…3 more updates already written out? I dunno. But I'll be able to update on Thursday and again on Saturday. So that's good.**

**I also have a massive essay due for English. That's bad, and may wind up consuming a lot of my time…curse you, Emily Brontë! No, don't curse you, for one, you're dead, and for another, you're a really good writer. But still.**

**Okay, so I feel like I need to explain this chapter. I got a lot of positive feedback on the whole Robin-hating-guns thing. Thanks! And that, plus the fact that I suck at action scenes, plus the fact that I love making Eve do pseudo psycho-analyses, led to the conversation that took up most of this. The scenes with Artemis and Troia getting distracted by their respective crushes/boyfriends was both too fun not to write and seemed like "Such a Dick Grayson thing to do." I hope it satisfied people, but again, I dunno. I just finished this and felt like I needed to post it and get some good writing karma out there. If you guys really want to see some action, I could write a short chapter about what happened during the rest of the game.**

**Oh, and if anyone on here is also following ATDL, could you share any ideas/headcanons/requests that you want to see? I'm kinda stuck on the next chapter.**

**Mailbox Time! (Man, it feels good to say that again.)**

**Zatanna Carrile: Yes, yes I am. Here you go! Apologies for the lack of action if that's what you wanted to see.**

**Piggythelaw: Yes. Sometime I will regale you with my horror of dentists, if that is what you wish. Honestly, I've never played paintball, and the idea more than slightly terrifies me. You're welcome! Not much fun here, though. Mostly angst.**

**Sass-master-lucifer: Good to see you again! And thanks. Those were fun. I borrowed a lot from weird conversations I have with my friend/writing buddy. And yes, poor Rob. Especially since all my stories seem to involve one scene with him being psycho-analyzed by an empath against his will. No, but I plan on seeing it soon! Thanks for the recommendation! **

**Eesanchez95: thank you for the encouragement! Here's a paint-covered Wally for you. And as for the whole Robin-to-Nightwing thing…I did mention somewhere that Bruce is requiring six months of training, right? Well, that won't work out. There will be some form of catalyst…extra triple karmic bonus points if you can guess what it is. Let's just say that I'm working on it right now and I've been rewatching certain Teen Titans episodes centered around a certain traumatized birdie to prepare. It won't show up until the end of February in the story though.**

**Mango-Sama: Thank you for your wonderful, kind review! It helped me get the motivation together to finish this darn thing. Yeah, Arty's real frustrated, and poor Wally happens to be a convenient target. Thank you for noticing and making good comments on all the little points I slipped in there. I do like this one better, but again, that's because I suck at action scenes and try to avoid them.**

**Xemi-demon: Thank you! Here you go!**


	17. A Sort-of Special Day

**Mt. Justice**

**December 18****th**

**03:04 EDT**

Artemis yawned as she wandered into the kitchen. The mission they had just returned from had everyone tired out. She had tried to sleep, but after lying awake for an hour, she concluded that it would probably be better to get a snack.

She made her way over to the fridge, found a pudding cup, and was about to settle in to eat it when she heard a sniffle. Frowning, Artemis set her snack down.

There was another sniffle, coming from the area of the couch. Artemis walked over to see Nightwalker curled up behind the couch, crying.

"Hey," Artemis said, gently. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not. Please, Artemis, just…just go away."

But Artemis didn't. She settled down next to the other girl and sat beside her.

"Rough night?"

"I'm twenty."

Whatever Artemis had expected, that wasn't it. "You're what?"

"I'm twenty. I turned twenty almost exactly two hours ago. Happy birthday to me. I've been dead for almost five years."

"It's your birthday?"

"Is it December eighteenth?"

"Yes."

"There's your answer."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Don't want to celebrate. Just wanted to be alone. Didn't get the chance. So now I'm crying. Go away, please."

But Artemis didn't. She moved even closer and tentatively touched her on the shoulder. Artemis wasn't the best at comforting, but she knew what it was like to want to forget the past. "No. I'm staying."

Eve brushed roughly at her eyes, then burst out in a foul-mouthed stream of language, using a few words Artemis had never heard before. And given that she was raised by and had worked for assassins, that was saying something. She made sure to file away a few of the more…_creative_ suggestions for later usage.

Eventually, the furious girl finished her tirade with "I ****ing hate Christmas."

"Never been the biggest fan of it either," Artemis admits, grumpily.

"It's just—my family, my mom and dad and brother, we weren't religious. We never got into that aspect of things. Christmas was a time for family, a time to just be together and not fight. My birthday was just an added bonus. It was only the four of us, and it was probably my favorite holiday. But now…now…" her voice cracked. She blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I miss my family. I really do. I miss my mom, and my dad, but most of all…I miss my brother. And that hardest part about that…is that he looks exactly like Aqualad."

It was a long time before she spoke again. "Life _sucks,_" she said, vehemently. "Every. Damned. Time. I see him. Something cracks. Something cracks inside me. And I don't know how long it's going to take before it shatters." She let out a sigh. "That sounds overly dramatic. But right now, I'm tired, and it's my birthday, and I miss my family so. Damned. Much. Everything is just piling up. I'll be fine in the morning."

"Are you sure?" Artemis asked.

"_Yes._ And don't you _dare_ tell anyone else about this, or so help me—"

Artemis held up her hands. "Relax. If you really are fine in the morning, I promise not to tell anyone else about your breakdown."

"Thanks." With that, the young woman's entire tense frame loosened, and her eyelids started to flutter. "I'm kinda tired. Just gonna…pass out here…G'night."

That was all the warning Artemis had before Eve's eyes closed and she curled up on the floor. Her breathing was deep, steady, and even.

Artemis covered the other girl with a blanket, letting her sleep, before sneaking off to wake M'gann. She had promised not to reveal the other girl's breakdown, but her birthday was another matter altogether…

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**December 18****th**

**07:24 EDT**

Eve was sleeping peacefully when a strange odor crept into her nose. It smelled like bread and fruit and melted chocolate. It smelled like—pancakes?

Her eyes flashed open. She _loved_ pancakes, and hadn't had them in _ages._

As Eve sat up, blinking, she noticed something strange. The kitchen was empty. Normally in the morning, especially if almost everyone was in the Cave, there was always someone in here. But now, it was empty, except for a stack of pancakes sitting on the table.

There was a note next to them.

_Eve:_

_We all had places to be. Sorry. I hope you like the pancakes!_

_Oh, and Black Canary wants to see you for a training session in the gym at noon._

_-M'gann_

Eve crumpled up the note, sighed, and dug in to her breakfast. She had been hoping that after last night's mission in Paraguay, she would at least have gotten a break.

Well, she could just wander around until noon.

She finished the pancakes and cleared her plate to find another note underneath.

_There's a surprise for you in the music room._

That caught her attention immediately. She had always loved music, and had been delighted to find a music room at the Cave. That delight had been somewhat lessened when she had investigated to find that most of the instruments had been removed long ago. It now only contained a battered piano, a violin missing two strings, a couple of recorders, and a rusty trumpet.

After dumping her plate in the sink, Eve wandered along the hall to the music room. As she went, she cast her mind out, looking for empathic signatures.

None. The Mountain, as far as she could tell, was empty.

Huh.

Eve stepped into the music room to see a case waiting on the table, and her heart skipped a beat. It was the right size, right shape, right everything. Before that little hope could get out of hand, however, she squashed it ruthlessly.

_See what's inside, first,_ she reminded herself.

So she reached over and opened the case.

It was a viola. She could tell that with a single glance. And it was exactly the same as the one she slaved over for seven years of her life.

With tentative fingers, she reached into the case and pulled it out, plucking the strings one by one.

A.

D.

G.

C.

Perfectly in tune.

Eve just sat there for a while, running her hands along the fingerboard, trying out note after note after note. When she had assured herself that _yes,_ it was a viola, and _yes,_ it was real, she dared to reach for the bow with shaking hands.

The routine was both so familiar and so foreign at the same time. Tighten the bow. Rosin it. Run a thumbnail along the bottom of the hairs to raise a cloud of rosin dust.

Eventually, she couldn't stall anymore, so she picked up the instrument, tucked it under her chin, took the bow in her other hand (took a moment to correct her grip—Beth, her teacher, had always given her a hard time for that) and started to play.

She played like crap after five years without touching an instrument, and she knew it, so she started slow.

Scales.

Eve had always hated scales, but now she fell in love with them. _Even Stradivarius had to do scales._ Beth's voice, gentle and teasing but tough as nails, echoed in her mind.

They were the only thing she could do, and do right. Letting her fingers trace up and down the strings, letting her memories return of octaves and sharps and flats, of keys and signatures.

Once she had the scales down, every note perfect, she moved on to the easy beginner pieces she memorized in third grade. She worked her way up, struggling the whole way, until she was fumbling her way through the last piece she had memorized, a sonata in G major. It was wonderful, burying herself in the music, even if she did sound terrible. It was like the old days, before the cancer, when playing music was as close as she ever expected to get to flying.

It was only when Eve became aware of an intense burning in her arms and legs from standing in the same position for so long that she came back to herself.

It was a shock to return to the physical world after losing herself in the music. Eve was even more shocked to find that enough time had elapsed to cause herself to become very, very worried about being late for her training session.

Still, she took the time to loosen her bow, clean the strings, and carefully and lovingly place the viola back in its case before taking off for the gym. She would be back.

* * *

**Mt. Justice**

**December 18****th**

**12:03 EST**

Zatanna was the one keeping an eye on the hallway to see when Eve was on her way. A spell she had activated allowed her to hear the music drifting in from down the hall, and she was quick to notice when it stopped.

"The music's stopped! She's coming!" Zatanna called.

Every other member of the Team was busy transforming the training room into a celebratory one. Troia was hanging banners, Conner was stacking presents on a table, and M'gann was setting out plates of food, and everyone else was busy as well. They had been working for a few hours, with M'gann placing a mental shield on the room so Eve wouldn't detect them.

Artemis looked up. "Is everything ready?"

"Yeah. Just stay whelmed, everyone. We don't know how she's going to react," Robin warned.

"Let's just hope she doesn't decide to kill us all," Zatanna remarked. "Whose idea was the viola? It worked like a charm."

"Mine," Wally remarked. "It was when she got her teeth pulled out and those meds Robin had to hype her up on kicked in. She was babbling to someone named Beth about how she was going to be late for her viola lesson."

"I was going to give it to her for Christmas, but this seemed like a better opportunity," Robin said.

"I am just hoping that whatever good mood it put her in will not be spoiled by this surprise. I thought that she was adamant that she did not want anyone else to find out it was her birthday," Tula remarked.

Artemis chose to ignore this. "She's coming! Shhh! Hide!"

Eve walked into the training room. For some reason, it was dark. It took about a second for the implications of that, combined with the pancakes, combined with the viola in the music room, to hit her. Although she really should have seen it sooner…

_Oh, no…_

"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted as the lights flicked on. There were banners and balloons hanging from the ceiling, a table on the side with plenty of food set out, and the entire Team gathered around her.

She glared at the traitorous girl standing in the front. "Artemis…" Her tone threatened certain maiming, if not death, in the archer's future.

Fortunately for Green Arrow's protégé, Robin stepped forward at that moment to distract the angry woman.

"Look, we know you said you didn't want to celebrate, but we do. We're glad we met you, we're glad you're here, and we're sure all glad you were born. So tomorrow, you can hide from the world and curse us all, but today, let us have some fun. Okay?"

Eve took a long look around the room, before letting out a sigh. "Okay," she said, grudgingly.

It was the instant when her tough façade dropped, to reveal a vulnerable and comforted girl inside, that convinced Artemis she had done the right thing.

Much later, when all the cake was gone and everyone was leaving, the small hug and barely audible "thank you" from Eve made her sure of it.

* * *

**(Pokes head out of hiding) Uhhhh…hi? (Dodges thrown fruit.) Yeah…I kinda forgot to update…silly me…I did post a new chapter for ATDL! And here's this one! Although it might be kinda boring…and/or suckish…**

**I finally got to bring in the viola! I don't play the viola, but I like it, and I spend way too much time in orchestra thinking up ideas for stories when I should be playing. It's not going to be a major plot device…more of a thing…**

**I'm so glad people liked the last chapter! Though as a general response to the reviews: WHY DO YOU PEOPLE LIKE TORTURING ROBIN SO MUCH? SERIOUSLY!**

**Okay, Mailbox time!**

**Piggythelaw: Yes. Yes it did. And yes she is. And the thesaurus and I had a lot of fun coming up with those adjectives.**

**Zatanna Carrile: Yes! I had fun writing it. I just thought: Hmmm…Artemis wants to humiliate Wally. I know! Pink paint!**

**Xemidemon: Thanks! But again: Why do people like torturing Robin so much?**

**Sass-master-lucifer: Yes, it suited Robin's trollish nature. And I love both Artemis bullying Wally and Jaia. No idea if they have a ship name beyond that… Oooh, yes, I might throw in one or two conversations with Jason. I just struggle a bit with writing Conner… And yeah, Eve knows what's coming, but she can't risk voicing the maybe-future and having it actually becoming the future. And you aren't imposing! I love getting suggestions.**

**Mango-sama: Ah, yes…a pink Wally. A free one-shot to anyone willing to make that into a picture because I suck at both drawing and photoshop. As for Jason and the love-child thing…maaaaaaayyyybeeee….(rubs hands together evilly and flexes fingers to type new story idea) I was trying to sneak in a Red Hood reference there. And yes! Therapist Eve. Empathy is very handy for that. And no, not even Batman can pull a Batman on her. And yeah, I liked the ending. It also ties in to another segment I'm working on…let's just say in involves plenty of Robin angst, becoming what he fights against, and rewatching of certain Teen Titans episodes for me…Update progress is unknown. Girl in the Fedora is really hard for me to write.**

**Eesanchez95: Cue evil cackle here. Just want to say that it takes place, chronologically, in February, and I still have all of January and the rest of December to write/get to, so don't hold your breath. The red paint thing on M'gann was just to make it more realistic/torturous for Robin. I don't know when or if I'll get to the chapter on the rest of the game, so sorry…**


	18. Of Power Outages and Ice Cream

**Mt. Justice**

**December 21****st**

**18:23 EDT**

It was once again a Friday night that saw all twelve Team members (Plus Jason, who was basically a fixture at this point) hanging around the Cave. Boredom had long since arrived, and they were all sitting around the living room as a thunderstorm raged on outside.

"What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know, what do you wanna do?"

"Seriously," Jason complained from his spot on the floor after the fourth time that exchange occurred. "Are you people _always_ this boring?"

"Shush, pipsqueak," Eve ordered from her perch near the ceiling. "It's not like you have a better idea?"

"Does putting the Atlantians on the roof with a metal rod count?"

"_No!"_ several voices answered. Surprisingly, none of them came from Kaldur, Garth, or Tula. The three of them were in fact exchanging speculative looks.

"Well…" Tula said. "It would be an interesting exercise in channeling electricity…"

"Oh, god no," Artemis groaned. She was in her favorite position on the couch, legs stretched out lengthwise and back leaning against Wally's chest. He had started to stroke her hair, but she kept batting his hands away. "Are we really that bored?"

Before anyone could answer her, the lights died. The darkness lasted for ten seconds before the backups kicked in, illuminating the room with a soft yellow glow. A loud _crack,_ closer this time, caused those to die as well.

"Seriously?" Raquel's voice came out of nowhere. Five seconds later, there were faint flickers from Tula and Kaldur's bioelectricity. Sparks danced around their fingertips as they assessed the room.

"ebolG fo thgil," Zatanna said. An orb of light appeared in the air, glowing with a pale luminescence that lit the area.

"Now what?" Troia asked. There was a soft _crack_ and a glowstick appeared in Dick's hands.

"Well, we haven't had a team-bonding thing in a while," he offered, a smirk on his face. "So how about Truth or Dare?"

Everyone swapped uneasy looks, but there were no real objections, so they formed up in a circle on the floor.

"Hey," Eve said. "How about a variation? One person asks everyone a question or dares them, and then everyone else gets to ask/dare them, except it can't be the same as what they asked. Good?"

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"I'm game."

"Who's first?"

"I'll go.'

"Oh no."

Dick smirked at Wally, who had been the one to murmur that. "Okay. You can either go outside and roll in the snow in your underwear…."

"Hey!"

"Pervert!"

"No way!"

"_Or…_you tell us about the best kiss you've ever had. Who, when, where."

"'Best' is a fairly unspecific term," Eve pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. First kiss. Same rules apply."

"M'gann, Belle Reve, when we were sent to infiltrate it as the Terror Twins," Conner said, suddenly. M'gann gave him a little smile and squeezed his hand.

"Same," she admitted.

Donna just shrugged. "I have never received a kiss."

Before she could react, Jason leaned over and pecked her on the lips. "Now you have." He smirked as she blushed and socked him in the arm. "Owww…"

"Such a child," she muttered. He just gave her his best shit-eating grin.

"Matter of fact, that was my first kiss, too," he said.

They turned to stare at Kaldur, who was the next one in line.

"I will take the dare," he said quietly, leaving the room.

Raquel looked at him as he left. "I'll go with him to make sure he does it. My boyfriend, Noble, Dakota City, four years ago." She got up and went off into the darkness after Kaldur.

Garth and Tula exchanged guilty looks. Tula spoke up. "Our first kiss was with each other, in Shayeris two years ago."

Wally looked embarrassed. Artemis elbowed him. "Come on, Baywatch, it can't be _that_ bad."

"You go first," he insisted.

"With this kid named Cameron. I think I was eleven. He lived on my block."

"Cameron?" Robin asked, a wicked grin on his face. "Isn't that the real name of—ow!" Zatanna had elbowed him hard in the side, and he apparently had enough sense to drop the subject.

Wally mumbled something that sounded like 'paybase.'

"What was that?" Robin asked.

"With…with Clayface, okay? That time in the sewers. He made himself look like M'gann, and well…"

"Seriously? Your first kiss was with a villain made of goop?" Eve asked.

"So who was yours with?" he demanded.

"Hey, Zee's next."

Zatanna smirked. "With Robin on New Year's Eve. Two years ago. Now you spill."

Eve sighed. "There was…my old life…Ellen Powers. Golden Gate Park, around seven years ago now."

"Ellen?" Wally asked. "So, either you had the weirdest boyfriend _ever…_"

"Shut _up,_ West."

"You mean you…"

"Yes. I had a girlfriend. Her name was Ellen. We dated for two years. Yes, I miss her. Yes, I am attracted to girls. No, I have not attempted to hit on any of you. Now drop the subject or I drop you."

"No, seriously, it's all cool, I just…"

"_Drop it, West._" The venom in her voice caused the little animal instincts in the back of his head to rear up and scurry away. Dropping the subject seemed like an excellent idea.

"My turn, _Grayson,_" she said in the voice she reserved for the times said Grayson had supremely annoyed her. "What's your most embarrassing moment that the Team doesn't know about?"

Dick Grayson grinned shamelessly and related an interesting incident involving the head of his school, hacking of surveillance cameras, a misordered bathtub, and a banana cream pie.

* * *

Half an hour (ish) later, they were all talking and laughing and slightly sugar-crazy after they had remembered that there were like, fifteen cartons of ice cream in the fridge that were now at risk of spoiling due to a power outage. The thought that it was the middle of winter was ignored, as it interfered with their hungry illogic. There was laughter, discussion, and much good-natured teasing in the dim light of Zatanna's globe and the glowstick.

"Okay, okay, my turn," Artemis said, after finishing off the strawberry ice cream with Wally's help. "Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Back-out dare is to prank call Black Canary and ask about her relationship with Green Arrow, or vice versa."

There were several cries of "No way!" and one mutter of "You evil, evil, girl child."

Donna got a thoughtful look. "A year ago, if you had asked me that question, I would have immediately said Man's World. Now that I am here, I can think of no place on Earth or beyond that I would rather be." She took a bite of her ice cream and grinned. "Especially when there are so many delicious foods here. What is this again?"

"Coffee ice cream," Robin said with a smirk. "There are iced mochas, too."

"Mmmmm," Donna said, licking her lips at the thought.

"I'll take you for one sometime," Jason offered.

Donna smirked and gave him a shove. "Insufferable flirt."

"You love me anyway."

The Amazon blushed. "Oh, shush. What about you?"

Jason shrugged. "Anywhere, really. I'm not picky."

Zatanna grinned. "I would love to go to Italy. My mother grew up there. She—she used to tell me stories about it." Zatanna rubbed at her eyes as a tear appeared, and Robin put an arm around her shoulder. He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Eve giving him a look. _:Take notes, Robin.:_

He elbowed her and grabbed a carton of cookies-and-cream ice cream, passing it to Zatanna. She gave him a small smile.

"That sounds nice, Zee," he told her.

"Hey, Eve, it's your turn," Artemis said, poking her.

"What?" The older girl had been staring into the distance, jolted awake from her ruminations.

"Where would you go if you could go anywhere?" Green Arrow's protégé asked again.

Eve blinked as she considered the question. "Home."

"Home…as in?" Garth asked.

"Home." She ate another spoonful of ice cream. Apparently, they wouldn't be getting much more of an answer from her.

"Robin?"

He got a smirk on his face. "I'll take the dare just to see the reaction." He pulled out a mobile and dialed something. "Did you know GA's got a hotline for the police?"

"One you can hack?" Raquel asked wryly.

"Duh." He tapped in the last numbers and put it on speaker. A ringtone sounded across the room.

"_This is Green Arrow. What's the emergency?"_

"Green Arrow?" Robin used his most sophisticated, grown-up voice. Troia let out a giggle and Zatanna elbowed her. "This is John Haly of the _Star Gazette_. Can I get a comment on your relationship with Black Canary?"

"_Excuse me?"_

Everyone, especially Artemis, was covering their mouths to prevent giggles from escaping. Ollie's voice was shock in its most perfect form.

"Yeah, are you two dating or engaged or what?"

"_We—that is none of your business!"_

"Ooh. Rocky relationship, am I right? Seriously, dude, just propose already. Half the League's betting on how long it is before you two get hitched. Personally, I'd toss my lot in with Green Lantern. It's gonna be six months at least."

"_What the—is this a prank call?"_

"Mayday! Time to back out!" Eve hissed.

"Well, the _Star Gazette_ thanks you for your comments. The story will run in tomorrow's paper. Thanks for your time!" With that, he hung up.

That was the signal for everyone to bust out laughing.

"That—was—_priceless_!" Artemis choked out. "If we could have seen the look on his face—"

Even Conner was chuckling, while M'gann leaned against him, giggling until she was breathless. All three Atlantians snickered and grinned. Tula had laughed herself into hiccups and was struggling to contain them, little sparks flickering over her fingers with every _hic._ Zatanna was truly laughing, something she didn't do often enough. Troia and Jason snickered at each other. Each time it looked like one of the two had managed to contain themselves, one would look at the other and set themselves off again. Raquel chuckled into her bowl of mint chocolate chip, and Wally was laughing himself into tears as Artemis rolled around on the floor, laughing a big belly laugh. Robin's cackle rang out around the room.

Eve was winding down from her near-hysterical laughter, chuckling quietly to herself as she watched the others She wiped a tear out of her eye, not sure if it was one of happiness of one of sorrow caused by dreaming of home.

Home.

Home was a place she hadn't thought of in years.

Home was a tall, narrow blue house crammed in with a dozen others.

Home was a tall staircase of golden wood that caught the light to make a perfect spot for reading.

Home was seeing her brother painting something, completely and utterly entranced in his work, but always seeming to sense exactly when she needed his help the most. When that happened, he would set down his brush, turn around, and hug her, listening to everything she said with a look that said, _You are important. Everything you are, everything you have been, and everything you ever will be is the most important thing in the world to me right now._

Home was in a dimension hundreds of worlds away, locked behind a barrier. Home was a distant concept, something only seen in dreams and memories.

Home was lost forever.

And suddenly, sitting there in the dim light with everyone laughing and talking and eating ice cream seemed like the most unbearable thing in the world. Eve got silently to her feet and slipped away. She stopped only long enough to pack her backpack, don her trenchcoat and fedora, and slip her new viola into its case. As soon as that was finished, she scribbled a note saying that she was going on a trip and would be back by New Year's, slipped into the vents, and used the hidden route to get out of the Mountain and into the cold, rainy night, flying away from everything and everyone to collect her thoughts.

* * *

It took them all a while to realize that Eve was gone. Eventually, Tornado returned, and after giving them all strange looks for lying on the floor surrounded by empty ice cream cartons, he helped them fix the generators and the lights came back on. By then, everyone was tired. Robin let out a loud yawn as he glanced around.

"Hey, where'd Eve go?"

M'gann's eyes glowed. "She isn't in the mountain."

"Oh, come on! She took off _again?_"

"And just before Christmas, too!"

Wally vanished for a moment and returned with a piece of paper. "She says that she'll be back by New Years, and we'll get our presents without her presence." He blinked at that. "Seriously?"

"So…where is she?" Donna wondered.

Most of them just shrugged, but it was Artemis who spoke. "Who knows?"

* * *

**Boston**

**December 21****st**

**20:45 EDT**

The lonely sound of a viola playing "Angels We Have Heard On High" echoed through the tunnels leading from Park Street station. At this time on the Friday night before Christmas, the subway was filled with shoppers looking for deals or a good night out. A good mood was noticeably prevalent among all of the commuters as they smiled at one out of many musicians and one another. Several tossed tips into her open case, and she did her best to acknowledge each without letting her technique slip. A small sign sat next to the case, reading _Requests welcome._

Eve let out a sigh as she smoothly transitioned from the last notes of _in Excelsis Deo _to the first notes of "We Three Kings." It was wonderful to just stand here and lose herself in the music, riding the wave of benevolent emotions echoing off of every single person around her. This was one of the reasons she had always loved Christmas as a child. It was one of the few times of the year that she had been able to actually use and appreciate her empathy, not shrink from it in fear as it subjected her to the worst emotions of the world. The bubbling, warm emotions and the simultaneous thrill and comfort of the familiar carols served as an efficient and welcome distraction from melancholy thoughts of home. She hummed along with the chorus as it carried through.

This was nice. Just standing here and playing, totally free. Nowhere she had to be, nothing she had to do. The only question was how she wanted to spend the next week, which wouldn't be hard to decide. Anywhere would work, really. For eight or nine glorious days, she was completely, utterly, entirely free, and the world was hers.

After she had wound that the carol up, she paused momentarily to think before closing her eyes and falling into a familiar syncopated rhythm.

_Tidings of comfort and joy, indeed._

* * *

**Hello! Guess who?**

**So, I have a ton of work this week, (Math test, lab report, and thesis paper. Yuck.) I've had to shuffle my entire timeframe in this story and I'm coming up on the end of what I've written way too fast, and the plot bunnies are attacking. So the next update will be on Friday. It will be a short chapter and slightly suckish, but I might toss in the first page or so of another story I've been working on involving the entire S1 Team plus others (CheshiRoy, Donna &amp; Jason, Damian) moving into a big decked-out apartment building when they all start having kids to raise them together. And Damian because Damian-as-older-brother is adorable. So thoughts?**

**I will also be switching to updating every three days. Possibly once a week. Life is crazy right now. But the weather's nice, which is an amazing miracle.**

**Oh, and two things: I changed the description, and this is now officially the longest story I've ever written.**

**As for the timeline thing, I moved a bunch of upcoming stuff around, meaning arcs I've completed have been pushed to the back of the queue, and arcs I've barely started are coming up fast. I'll see what it's like on Friday and let you know how many updates will be delayed because of it. Sorry!**

**Mailbox time!**

**Piggythelaw: Thanks! I play cello and bassoon, so I'm equally partial to winds and strings. And I like pancakes with lots of stuff in them—chocolate chips and berries and almonds. No syrup, though.**

**Zatanna Carrile: Probably. It would take a while to wash off. Originally, I wrote this awhile ago, and the viola thing came from a supposed injury on a mission. But the wisdom teeth thing fit in nicely, so I went with that instead.**

**Mango-Sama: Ah, yes, a corrupting (corruptive?) Eve… I don't think Artemis will share that information just yet, but it will show up later. And yeah, she did sneak off to be alone for Christmas. Um, I figure the Team just gave her Christmas presents early…I haven't thought much about what they were. That's a logical theory. Let's have more tortured Robin! Which is actually coming up…Muahahahahaha…Yes, Deathstroke, no undercover. Mostly trauma. I'm trying to avoid a big Bats confrontation, since on the show, Nightwing seems to be on pretty good terms with him, (quoting Wikipedia here, I kid you not) "suggesting a non-confrontational transition to Nightwing." I think you might like what I do with the whole Jason as Robin thing, since I need to fit quite a bit of angst and Dick's doubting himself into a short amount of time. Oh, and that story I've been discussing with you might preview here next week, so…**

**Eesanchez95: Maybe…(cue evil cackle). But good news! My shuffling of timeline means that arc will be showing up earlier. Think mid-January. And THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT REMINDER. I think about Eve's past so much that I forget I haven't actually explained…well…any of it. So that should show up after a while. (Hint: It's gonna be angsty, and it's gonna be epic. Think Eve as six-year-old.) Sorry for the reduced updates!**


	19. Christmas and a Sneak Preview

**Dreamscape**

**December 25****th**

**Sometime before midnight**

The entire Team found themselves suddenly standing in a dim, round room. It had several couches and coffee tables scattered across a smooth floor of honey-brown wood. A cheerful fire crackled in an open-sided fireplace in the center, light from the flames flickering off of the shiny black stone hearth surrounding it and the chimney stretching through the ceiling.

A Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated with ornaments that twinkled and changed. Closer inspection showed that they were moving pictures—memories, from all of them, literally hanging like ornaments. There weren't any presents under it; it just went all the way down to the floor.

Candles releasing a cider-scented perfume were placed all over, giving the whole place an ambient glow. Music being played on some stringed instrument drifted in from nowhere. The whole room held an aura of peace, serenity, and welcome.

"Where are we?" Wally asked, turning around.

"I thought we were just in the Cave," Tula said, confusion writing itself across her face.

"Yeah, well, you should really hide your sleeping gas stash better, Robin." The amused voice came from behind them, and they turned to see Eve standing there.

"When did you get back?" Donna asked in confusion.

"I'm not. You're dreaming. Merry Christmas." The woman waved her hand, and a series of doors appeared around the room, flashing into existence. Each of them was labeled with a name. "Pick yours. The others won't work for you."

"What are they?"

"My presents." Eve gave a small, wistful, smile.

"And…what exactly do they do?" Jason asked, shooting a skeptical glance at his door.

The empath shrugged. "They reawaken the brightest corner of your memory system. Find a treasured moment, polish it up, allow you to linger in a time when you were the happiest. Personally, I'll have no idea what it is. It's just for you—just a dream."

They all exchanged glances, slightly nervous. She just shrugged. "Or, if you don't want to, you can just hang out here until morning. Whatever you like. Excuse me." With that, she vanished.

They just stood there awkwardly for several minutes, no one really wanting to go first. Eventually, Conner just shrugged.

"Might as well give it a shot." With that, he walked over to the door with his name on it and stepped inside. It vanished behind him.

Conner found himself standing in the middle of a field on a hot, sunny, summer day. The air was filled with noise—good noises, laughter and chatter and shrieks of delight—and the amazing smell of barbecue and strawberries. He could feel the yellow sun rays filling him with energy.

"Hey Conner, c'mon!"

Conner blinked as one of Clark's young cousins came up and tugged on his hand. The clone grinned when he realized what this was. Two years ago, Clark had taken him to the annual Kent family reunion and introduced him as his younger brother, openly claiming him as his own. It had been a great day with a bigger family than he could ever have imagined.

So Conner just gave an even bigger grin and let himself be pulled further into the memory, happy to live in that day once more.

* * *

In the room behind him, the others followed suit one by one. They each found themselves inside a happy memory, one of their happiest. For several of them, new details were reawakened, bringing back times they never remembered.

Inside the Cave, all of the eleven people fast asleep around the living room sighed and feel deeper into a more comfortable, happy, sleep.

* * *

Over three thousand miles away, a young woman wrapped in a sleeping bag slowly stirred awake, a small smile on her face. It had taken her a while to both figure out presents for everyone and set it up, but it had been worth it.

_Memories…_

With that thought, she slipped out of the thermal-retaining material, shivering a bit in the cold, and moving towards the front. The force of the falls tumbled over the front opening of the cave, hiding the view of the park behind a torrent of foaming, ice-cold water.

Eve slipped into a side cave and squeezed along it until she reached a spot where part of the cliff had worn away, revealing the snow-covered forest below.

The wind was bitingly cold, and for a few moments, she welcomed it—welcomed the numbness, the sheer, overwhelming icy temperatures that slipped around her and settled into her bones.

She wished that she could let it slip into her mind, wrapping around and numbing the memories that were still too painful to touch.

Tears started to form in her eyes as awful memories washed up. Even as the liquid nearly froze on her cheeks, Eve would swear that she could still feel a trace of the heat from that distant summer day. The heat…the screams…the furious emotions pressing, pressing, _pressing_ on her mind until she wanted to snap.

_Fourteen years. Fourteen ****ing years and that damned memory is still torturing me._

She tried to fight it off, to chase it away and lock it up again, but it was no use. So she just had to close her eyes and curl up and sob as it washed over her again.

The nightmare was an old, familiar enemy. She had been dealing with it for years. Even when she learned how to control her mind and avoid nightmares, this one kept coming back.

Eve let it. She never tried to stop her own nightmares. As far as she was concerned, she had done some horrible things in her life. She deserved to be punished for them, and if no one else would, she would have to do it to herself. Somewhere in the back of her head, she knew that mentality was extremely unhealthy, but she let it persist.

Calder had always been the one to chase that particular nightmare away. He had it too, although not as bad as she did. He had been there, but he hadn't felt the emotions of dozens of angry people bursting inside his head. Still, he had always known exactly what to say to make her feel safe.

_I miss you, Cal._

She didn't do this often. Most of the time, she kept away from the pain of her old life, moving on and on and on, staying in motion. But the Team hadn't had a mission in a week, and she had too much time to think—too much time for old memories to seep up. As if the breakdown on her birthday hadn't been bad enough.

Eventually, the tears and shakes slowed, stilled, and stopped completely. Eve sat up and rubbed at her red-rimmed eyes, not quite ready to try and be composed yet. Right now, she was lonely and hurt, as much as she ever allowed herself to be.

She was always lonely, really. It just never seemed to matter. Being alone was an art. It took practice. And boy, did she have practice.

By the time she went back to the Mountain, which would have to be in three days, she would be under control again. She always was.

But now, here, under a white sliver of moon on an icy cold night, she could be alone with her tears and her grief.

_Merry Christmas, Cal…wherever you are._

* * *

**Um…I've been in an angsty mood lately. That's really my only excuse for what happened in this chapter. And her past will be delved into eventually. Dunno when this will be updated again, sorry! I'm trying to decide whether or not to do a New Years party at the Watchtower.**

**And now, for a super-special sneak preview at an as-yet-untitled story!**

* * *

Happy Harbor, on the surface, is just your typical New England coastal small town. Saltboxes line neat, well-paved streets and white picket fences go straight to tidy blue sidewalks. Downtown is a neat assortment of shops, fish and tackle stores, and safe places for teens to hang out. The crime rate is near zero, and the event that sells the most tickets is the homecoming football game.

So yes, on the surface, all is calm.

Except for the massive crater outside of town…

To be fair, it doesn't look much like a crater anymore. The massive explosion that destroyed it was years ago, and some foundation called T.U.R.F. that no one had ever heard of before paid for it to be cleaned up and planted with trees and flowers. A small playground was even set in overlooking the water. So now, according to the sign at the front that welcomes visitors, it's simply "Mount Justice Park."

The title is another one of those unexplainable things in town. There are a lot of them, according to the older folks. The teenagers all scoff at the stories, but the kids all listen eagerly—about the weird robots and supervillains that used to attack the power plant, about the crazy things that happened at the mountain, about the superheroes that could be seen flying around town.

"It was just like that," the storytellers say. "No one knows how or why."

Everyone knows about a giant explosion that ripped through the air one cool March night, and how the huge mountain that used to stand outside of town went up in flames. Apparently, that was the last of the 'strange things'. Now the only heroes Happy Harbor sees are the ones on the news, and supervillains, for some reason, never come to town anymore.

Strange things, if they ever did happen in the city by the sea, are things of the past.

Which is why no one thinks much of it when a crumbling old abandoned brownstone apartment on the edge of town is purchased by one Richard Grayson. Buying buildings is just something rich people do, right?

And if dozens of construction workers show up to remodel the old place, well, it was falling down anyway.

So what if some of the companies that are hired are ones they've never heard of? Rich people hire all sorts of specialized workers.

Several hopeful house-hunters find themselves disappointed when they inquire after buying space in the new building, only to be informed that while they have the company's deepest apologies, none of the apartments are for sale.

Still, they were all _slightly_ curious about who could be moving into such a big place. So when the construction finally finished, several people stopped by to see if there were any signs.

Six months of construction work sure could change a place. The formerly four-story building now had two extra floors. The bottom floor had been converted into what looked like a diner, or perhaps a bakery—a glass window stretched across the front, broken in the middle by a cheerful green door. Around to the side, a set of double doors opened into a hallway that looked surprisingly normal, painted a light, soothing blue. A large, smooth wooden staircase was constructed at the end of a hall, and despite the square construction, the banister was wide and spiraling down in a curvy, round way. Much to the bemusement of all who peered in, a fire pole went down the center. Tucked behind the staircase, as though it was unnecessary, sat an elevator with smooth steel doors.

If the onlookers could have seen the secret doorway concealed behind the bookshelf in the first-floor study, they would have been surprised and amused, assuming that the inhabitants must have merely read too many mystery novels. While that was true, where the secret passage with the high-tech elevator led would have frankly shocked anyone who didn't know the secret of the house, or of Happy Harbor.

Concealed twenty yards under the weathered brownstone was possibly the most eccentric basement the small Rhode Island town had ever seen.

The elevator led into a sprawling underground facility equipped with a number of odd rooms. There was an archery range, a room with a glowing blue floor, a traditional dojo, an exercise room filled with more modern equipment, a medical lab with high-tech equipment that most hospitals would drool over, a completely soundproof room with a trickling waterfall and several comfortable chairs, and a huge, multi-purpose space with an indoor lake, several bikes and cars, and two large, round structures set in the wall that would have been unfamiliar to any normal resident of New England.

But the twenty-one people preparing to occupy the brownstone were anything but normal.

* * *

**Thanks to Mango-Sama for giving me the encouragement to pull this together!**

**Okay, so basically I have this headcanon where ten years after the Invasion (Wally comes back somehow) the entire Season 1 Team, plus Roy and Jade, plus Jason and Donna (Who also came back and they're still a couple), plus Garfield, Bart, and Damian Wayne (Somewhere around 17 when the story starts) plus the children of Chalant, Supermartian, Spitfire, CheshiRoy, and Amistad (Raquel's kid) all move into this big remodeled brownstone apartment in Happy Harbor together. And they agree to this because 1. No rent, 2. Free babysitting, and 3. Good company. I want to write the whole thing out, but since I'm currently trying to keep two stories updated on a regular basis and I'm scrambling to come up with stuff for a third, this probably wouldn't happen until after I finish either this story or A Thousand Days Later (which I also updated, so go check it out). Please let me know what you think of it! Oh, and if you can name where I got T.U.R.F. from and what it originally stood for, I will write a new chapter of this proto-story on a topic of your choice. If you have any questions at all concerning it, PM me or let me know in a review.**

**Speaking of which…Mailbox time!**

**Eesanchez95: Yeah…me too…And I hope this teaser of backstory wasn't too evil for you…Um, I really am trying. I am! But stuff is happening and I have a lot of music to practice. I'm glad you liked the Christmas spirit bit. I had fun writing it. I will admit, I was tempted to have her run into Jason Blood or something, but I decided to just close with a nice dose of fluff.**

**Piggythelaw: Yes, the bassoon! But the one thing that sucks about playing it is the EVIL G#! AAAGGGGHHHH! (Sorry, pent-up concert frustration.) And yeah, I laughed while writing it. There was this short de-aged drabble I wrote that will probably never see the light of day, but there was a bit I liked involving more GA torment:**

_Young-Artemis: "You're Green Arrow!"_

_Ollie got a smug grin. "Why, yes, yes I am."_

"_Dad says you're a stupid hero."_

_Black Canary almost choked at the look on her fiancée's face. _

**I like bashing him! It's fun and easy! And for ice cream, basically anything chocolate with tree nuts or sprinkles in or on top of it. No sauce or peanuts, though. Absolute favorite is Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk.**

**Xemidemon: Yes, she does and will continue to do that. Thanks!**

**Mango-Sama: Ah, yes, Jason. He should just come with a sign that says DO NOT ENCOURAGE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. And Jason and Donna are my new OTP. But now I need a ship name…**

**Yeah, Wally needs to keep his mouth shut. A lot. And the prank call was tons of fun to write! And I'm absolutely sure that the League really does have a pool. It's really only a matter of time. I loved having him do the John Haly alias. Can't remember where it's from. And yes, Eve runs off whenever she feels scared/hurt/lonely which is slightly counter-intuitive, but hey, she's weird. And I'm avoiding the whole undercover bit cause I've only seen the episodes. Haven't actually read the original Renegade run. And yes! Robin angst! So much fun! Though not for him…**

**And here is your preview! Enjoy!**


	20. A Reversal of Roles

**Quick note: This chapter takes place in TT verse. In case you haven't read my first story (and please don't if you haven't already—I don't like it anymore and will be changing it soon.), Eve's an honorary Titan and an old friend of Robin's.**

* * *

**Earth-1**

**Titans Tower**

**December 24**

**20:32 PST**

The former Robin, who had recently decided to start going by the moniker 'Nightwing', was sprawled on the couch in the main room of Titans Tower. He was the only one in the room, which was dimly lit by a glowing Christmas tree.

The four others were in bed. He would be too, if he hadn't been expecting a visit from an old friend.

There was a soft _thud_ and a heavy impact next to him, and he smirked, eyes staying closed behind his mask.

"'Bout time," he said easily. "Merry Christmas."

There was no sound, and he opened his eyes to look over and see Eve collapsed next to him, looking just as exhausted as he did. Maybe even more. Her eyes were closed and her lips were firmly pressed together.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Fine."

_Yeah, right._ He sat up and scooted closer, staring at her intently. "You of all people should know that saying 'fine' only reassures the other person that you're anything but. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Really, everything's fine." She turned over so she was facing away, still keeping her eyes closed.

"Uh huh. Then why won't you look at me?"

"I—" a pause. "Damn you, Robin."

"It's Nightwing now. You should know, you're the one who gave me the idea. Come on, Eve, look at me."

Slowly, she turned her head over and lifted her eyelids to reveal red-rimmed damp eyes. Nightwing drew in a breath.

"Oh, Night," he said softly. After the time they had spent only knowing each other by their aliases, it was still the term that had the most meaning for them both. Before she could do anything, the acrobat had caught up the girl who was as close to him as a sister in a hug. She just held him and shook a bit.

"Breakdowns again?" he asked quietly.

She took a deep breath. "Yeah," she said, in a hoarse voice that was more exhale than talking. If her head hadn't been resting on his shoulder, he might not have heard her at all.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It's just—six months. I've been stuck there for six months. I've been trying to get as much space as I can, leaving whenever they let me, but it's all piling up. Claustrophobia hasn't kicked in yet, but it might soon. It's just—I'm stuck. I'm stuck there, and I hate it, and it's starting to drive me insane. It's hard enough for me to be here for _one_ month, and I've been there for _six._" She clung a little tighter. "That's what always set me off before. Being stuck. Being trapped. I can't keep ahead of my feelings. And this whole dammed month—I've been too tired to maintain mental stability through sheer force of will. Stupid, _dracului_ wisdom teeth."

Nightwing ignored the harsh language as a pertinent point hit home. He pulled back a bit looking her in the eye. "This whole _month?_ Eve…"

"Don't."

"Eve, how many breakdowns have you had?"

"I can't—"

"_Eve._"

She wouldn't look him in the eyes. "Six. Six since early December."

The acrobat was stunned into silence momentarily. "Oh, Eve…"

She let out a choked sob and clung onto him again. He just held her for a moment as she wept. This wasn't like one of her crying breakdowns brought on by depression. This was crying on the shoulder of a friend.

_Something I'll bet she hasn't done nearly enough of lately._

"Do any of them know?" he asked her quietly once she had finished and was now just clutching him weakly.

"No," she muttered. "Two different people have caught me at it once. They think it that it was an exclusive incident each time, brought on by stress."

"And you didn't see fit to clarify."

She didn't even bother to deny it. "I can handle it. I really can."

"But you haven't been."

She pulled back, started to get up, then flopped back on the couch.

"Damn you." She turned over and punched a pillow. "Why do you always have to be so damn perceptive?"

He took a deep breath. "You need to talk to someone about this."

"I—"

"Don't you _dare_ try to say you can handle it."

A pause that seemed to weigh heavy with annoyance proved him right.

"And even if I can?"

"Can you? Answer me honestly."

There was a longer pause. "Given the effort and time I'm expanding as part of the Team and otherwise, it will often be too difficult for me to forcibly control my emotions, especially when they're running as high as they tend to do before a breakdown." Her voice was cool and logical.

"So, no."

"No."

"Then Eve, you _need_ to talk to someone about this. About your—" he cut himself off, not wanting to say it.

"Clinical depression?" The statement was heavy with irony. "I know the technical term, Dick. I diagnosed it myself. But you of all people know how little I can afford to rely on medication for it."

"Sometimes talking can be better than meds. Didn't you say that whatshername, Black Canary, she's a therapist there?"

"Mmmph." Her voice was muffled by the pillow she had planted her face in.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Yes."

"Then it's settled. You'll talk to her."

"No."

"Eve, I am ordering you as leader of the Titans to talk to Black Canary."

"I'm not an official Titan. And as both your big sister and de facto leader of the TDE, I'm countermanding your order." Her voice was still hoarse and husky, but it had a hint of both humor and venom.

"One, you have a communicator and a room here. That makes you an official Titan, even more so than some of the other Honoraries. Two, you're not the boss of me. Three, you're not a leader anymore. Don't you remember? You temporarily resigned command to Oracle and field leadership to Herald when you got yourself stranded on Earth 16." Before she could start an argument, he grabbed her arm. "Eve, I'm worried about you. I know how much you hate being stuck and living by someone else's rules. And you and I both know that without anyone to talk to openly and honestly, you're making yourself emotionally unstable without an outlet. At least, I hope I should know, since you lecture me on it often enough."

"Dick, I appreciate the concern, but—"

"No. Eve, listen to me right now. Actually, don't listen. Sense my emotions. What do you feel?"

She lifted her head to look at him, and he did his best to project all the worry, fear and touch of panic he was feeling at her. Tears started to form in her eyes as her empathy kicked in.

"Oh," she said softly.

"Hey, hey—enough crying, all right?" he said. He sat down next to her and squeezed her hand. "Look, just promise me you'll talk to her, okay?"

There was a long, long pause, and for a few moments, he was afraid that he'd overstepped.

"I will," she said, quietly.

"_Craciun fericit._"

"Merry Christmas to you, too."

The two of them sat on the couch, staring at the Christmas tree for a long time.

* * *

**Okay, I feel like I really need to explain this chapter.**

**Recently, I reread my first story, Nightwalker, and came to one conclusion.**

**It sucks.**

**So after I get one of my current stories off my plate, I will work on rewriting that. Part of what will be included is the fact that Eve has clinical depression. If you're looking for a specific type, probably the best fit is RBD, recurrent brief depression. Her specific case is best defined as a general low mood, punctuated by outbursts and fits of crying, like the one that happened with the wisdom teeth, the one Artemis caught her in the middle of and the one she had at Yosemite. Essentially, she has depression and slight suicidal tendencies brought on by a crappy childhood, which I will go into with some therapy sessions with Black Canary. She deals with it in her own way, mostly by getting out and doing enough so that she feels that she matters, as well as having total freedom. Confinement of any type, even if it's just to one universe, makes her melancholy and nervous. Claustrophobia tends to set in if she's in one place too long. Now she's been in one place for six months, so she's getting fairly edgy. Before this she was dealing with it by manually empathically overriding her emotions and the mental imbalance to keep herself stable, but running around with the Team is just plain wearing her out. Add that to the wisdom teeth incident reawakening old fears and kinda pushing her over the edge…**

**I don't want anyone to be offended by this. I realize that this is a sensitive subject, and I'm trying to approach it carefully and delicately. Believe me when I say I get how much depression sucks. Half my family is diagnosed with it. So if you feel I'm not approaching the subject properly, or if something I say offends you, please let me know and I will fix it. My sincerest apologies if you are uncomfortable with any of this.**

**I also realize that this update is late. Now, of course, I have to admit that if I ever do get a chapter posted within three days of the previous chapter, it will be unusual. I figure that I'm going to get onto the same schedule I have with ATDL. I will update either at least once a week or as soon as the next two chapters are finished, whichever comes first. **

**Oh, and random note: I changed my penname.**

**Other random note: This story has passed 20 chapters, 45,000 words, and 3000 words. Happy dance!**

**Mailbox Time!**

**Eesanchez95: Okay, first, I have to tell you that it looks like the arc will be pushed back yet again. (don't kill me!) I can, however, give you a tentative definitive date. Unless stuff happens, the arc is scheduled to begin on January 20****th****. It all depends on how much stuff I can cram in between then and now. I hope that helps. And yes, it would be fun to have Jason Blood, but sadly, it didn't work out. Oh, and congratulations! Thank you for the encouragement.**

**Piggythelaw: Yes, it was. Thanks! And you should try. It is delicious! Um, favorite word is hard to pick. There are so many good ones. Personally, at the moment I favor 'existentialism', or perhaps 'non-proliferation'. **

**Sass-mistress-lucifer: Thank you! I don't know when it'll be published. It's just a thing I put up to make up for a very short chapter. And it's really okay! Any and all reviews are appreciated, no matter the quality. Quick question: what on earth is a 'pants mutual'?**

**Prettykityy luvs u: It's fine! Sorry about any problems you may be having at school. And thank you!**

**Mango-sama: Yeah. I considered writing it out, but it was too much of a hassle, and I don't write SBoy much, so I was trying to stretch myself. And I will be expanding more on it. And yeah, you would think that! One moment while I research…No ship name! Shame on you, Internet. If you want another story where they're paired, check out Hinn-Raven's "Resurgence." Actually, just check out Hinn-Raven's stuff in general. It ROCKS! Yeah, I know he's used that alias before, I just can't remember where….darn. The preview was fun, but I have a lot on my plate right now, so I'll hold off on writing more. Especially since the only other two chapters I've managed to write….I sorta hate. Maybe I should include Damian Go ahead and try! Although I made up most of the kids…so I'll just tell you right now that M'gann and Conner have two kids.**


	21. Of Therapy and Backstory

**Mt. Justice**

**December 27****th**

**9:54 EDT**

_"__Recognized: Nightwalker; B-one-zero."_ The door opened, as always, announcing exactly who had entered the mountain. No one was around to see it.

That was fine with Eve. She sent out a mental scan to try and find out who was in the mountain. Conner and M'gann were in the living room, doing…things…(Eve quickly shied away from _that_ mental signature) and Zatanna was sparring with Black Canary, judging by the razor-sharp focus and irritation coming from that area. Eve took a deep breath.

_Better now than never. Actually, better after the training session than never._

She stopped by her room to drop off her bag, viola, and coat, but not her hat. She'd need her hat. As a security blanket if nothing else.

After she had left her things in her room, which was surprisingly bare, Eve found herself standing in the training room, watching as Black Canary and Zatanna sparred.

The young magician was putting up an excellent fight, but she had no chance against one of the best martial artists on the planet. It wasn't long before she was flat on her back. Eve winced as the other girl went down with a _thud_. She'd had quite enough of being in _that_ position, thank you.

"Eve." There was a note of pleasant surprise and welcome in Black Canary's voice. "You're back early."

Eve nodded. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all. We were just finishing. Zatanna, I want you to practice that blocking maneuver at least twenty times before I see you again."

Zatanna pulled herself up from the floor and grinned at the older girl. "Hey, Eve. Have a good trip?"

"Yeah. Um, Dinah, can I talk to you?"

"Of course."

Zatanna stood there, looking between them, before she rolled her eyes. "And this is one of those highly confidential sessions. Of course. I'll go find something else to do, then. Bye!" With that, she headed out.

Eve twisted the felt of her fedora between her hands. "Can we go to the quiet room?"

Dinah raised an eyebrow. Before, their 'talks' had all been her explaining how to analyze people (something Eve already know how to do) and get them to work through their issues, all things that could be discussed outside the soundproof therapy room.

Was the girl finally opening up?

"Of course," she said, her voice smooth as cream. She fell into step beside Eve as they walked in that direction. There was a furrow between her brows and a dark, sad cast to her eyes.

When they reached the room, they both took their places; Dinah settled herself comfortably in one chair and Eve leaned against the back of the other, staring at her hat. Eventually, she spoke.

"I talked to a friend," she said finally. "And old and very good friend. He recommended that I talk to you."

"Recommended?" Dinah asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, begged sounds undignified on both sides." She sighed. "And…I have depression. Usually, I manage to stay ahead of it, but…I've been having breakdowns. Crying fits. There's too much pressure on my empathy, more than I can contain like I typically do. He told me I needed to talk to you. And threatened to tell my boss if I didn't."

"Your boss?" Dinah asked, with a hint of amusement.

"Hey, in some worlds, she's also your boss. And when she's mad, she's terrifying." Eve sighed. "I just…I need to talk to someone and vent some pressure before I go insane. Look, this is really hard for me to talk about, so…please don't interrupt, okay? No questions, no comments, just…let me talk."

Dinah, seeing that the girl expected some kind of response, merely nodded. Eve took a deep breath and began.

"My childhood…growing up…it was not a happy time for me. Before I can explain why, you need to understand what the world I was born in was like."

She paused for a moment, considering the best way to explain her next words. "You know that because I'm an empath, I'm what they call a 'metahuman' here. Well, back there, we didn't use anything so nice as that. You think that discrimination's bad here? Try a world where it's legal. Where the government, every government, _endorses_ it. They didn't call us 'metahumans.' Didn't even bother including the word 'human'. No, we were mutants, plain and simple. I didn't _qualify_ as human. Didn't even qualify as an _animal,_ according to the law. There weren't any laws protecting us. According to the law—" at this, her lip twisted into a bitter grimace. "According to the law, we were government property. Barely even _things_. There was a law—an actual law—stating that if a civilian found a mutant, they were authorized to use any force they felt was necessary to keep them contained and subdued until the government got there. Essentially, it was an excuse for them to beat the shit out of any mutants they found. It was illegal for a mutant to be unregistered, but once they _did_ register, they didn't even get to leave the building. They were taken away by the government. Nobody knew what happened to them, not officially, but it was pretty well recognized that the army took them away to experiment on. And if you were _un_registered, then...well, then the MRD, the Mutant Response Division, came knocking on your door. They would drag you out of your home and beat you, as well as any family you may have, before dragging you away. Fight back, and you'd be shot on the spot. Usually, they made it public. Made an example of you. It wasn't something anybody questioned. People who asked questions, who started to suggest that things were unfair, had a nasty habit of disappearing." She swallowed hard. "I was a typical naïve kid. No idea of what was going on. Wasn't something people talked to toddlers about. Most gifts tended to manifest with puberty, so I had no idea there was anything wrong with me. Wasn't anyone looking too closely at me, either."

Eve took a couple of deep breaths as bad memories started coming back. "I had an older brother. Did I ever tell you that? His name was Cal. He…looked out for me." She gave a small smile and shook her head. "My life…it was normal. At least, that's what I thought. I had no idea how things really were. Until…"

She stopped for such a long moment that Dinah considered breaking the silence the other woman had asked for. Fortunately, Eve broke it first.

"I was six. It was the middle of summer, just an ordinary day by any standards. Cal and I were outside, just playing around. I was asking about the house next door, I remember that. I had never seen the man who lived there. Cal tried to sell me all these wild tales, but I wasn't having any of it." She smiled at the memory, a distant taste of childhood innocence lost. It quickly faded as what happened next came blaring into her mind. It wasn't hard to remember…not when it was a vivid nightmare she saw far too often.

"The MRD came along. I didn't even know what was going on. There was just this big, black van, and all these soldiers, and so much shouting…and all this _pressure_ on my mind. A mob was forming. It was like…a million hands, all pressing at the inside of my head.

"They dragged the guy out of his house and ripped his shirt off. He had scales, running all down his back. Blue and green, like some kind of lizard. The men started beating him. All his pain, and all the hatred and anger coming from the crowd…" she swallowed hard. "It was so much pressure on my mind—hurting and squeezing. It was a flow of water battering against a dam, and it wasn't long before the dam broke. And when that happened—all those emotions, all those awful, sickening feelings, they just…_crashed_ into my head. It blasted my psychic channels open. All I could feel was rage and hatred and pain…" her voice trailed off as her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clenched the hat ever more tightly. "Well, when you're six years old…and you've just realized that the entire world will hate you…and you have to feel that hate everywhere you go…" she let out a breath. "It's kind of hard to be well adjusted."

She took a deep breath and released it. "That pretty much set the tone for the next nine years. I think my empathy was supposed to develop slowly—just barely sensing things, then becoming more and more sensitive and strong over time until I reached the skill I have today. But because of that…_incident…_I was blasted open. I was sensing everything anyone was feeling within a twenty-foot radius. I had no idea how to block it out. Most people train for years to get their powers to work. I had to learn, in less than two months, how to get mine to turn off. I nearly went crazy with effort, and I still can only partially block my mind." She gritted her teeth. "Do you know what it's like to live in a world where every day of your life, you are bombarded by signs, posters, propaganda, that tell you you're an abomination? A freak? That you're supposed to be dead? Do you know what it's like when you can tell exactly how much danger you're in because of the very gift that puts you in danger? Let me tell you right now, it fucks with your psyche. Big time."

Her next statement was flat. "I might have killed myself before age ten if it hadn't been for my brother. He was probably the most supportive person in my whole life…and the only one who knew my secret. He was the one who helped me get a handle on my powers. My own parents didn't even know. They were wonderful people, and good parents, but…I couldn't tell them. I just couldn't." She shook her head. "I did die, though. And the sad thing is, I wasn't too upset about it. I didn't try to fight back. I was dying of cancer, and I didn't even _care._" She slammed her fist onto the arm of the chair and winced. "Ow. But the thing is…dying is probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. I got thrown into another world. That's where I met Robin. Another Robin. He was running away from his Batman, trying to make his own way in the world. I was running away from my past. We helped each other. Worked together. Formed a bond. He's like a brother to me. In time…I started to heal. I didn't have to be afraid anymore. I could use what I had…and actually make a difference. He didn't know who I was. I had no background, no identity. For the first time in my life, I tasted total freedom. And I loved it."

She smiled, but once again, it quickly turned sour. "Then, of course, I had to learn that the things worth living for are worth dying for as well. Ra's al Ghul kidnapped us both. He'd heard about us. He was looking for a new Shadow, and he wanted one of us. Not both; just one. So he locked us both inside a room designed to open when there was only one life sign inside. Either one of us would kill the other, or the weakest would die first from starvation and dehydration. The one who survived would be weakened enough for him to take and retrain. I thought. And thought. And thought. For eight hours or so. I made peace with my demons. Or so I thought. I accepted that I was not worthless, but I also accepted that I didn't belong there. And Robin did.

"When I…cheated death…I cut my spirit loose from my body, essentially. So I figured that I could release my spirit, and it would rejoin my body. Robin would still be strong enough to fight his way out. He'd survive. Hopefully prosper. I'd be free." She slowly removed her hands from where they were clenched around her hat and her expression turned deeply bitter. "That's what I thought. I was wrong." She swallowed again and closed her eyes. "I—"

she started and stopped, before starting again. "I—" another stop, another head-shake. "I'm sorry. The next part's too hard to talk about right now."

Dinah sat there, slightly stunned as she listened, but not letting any of it show on her face.

_Six years old…six years old when your world fell apart. Six years old when you understood that you would never be safe again…Oh, honey._

"I understand," she said, keeping her voice even and calm. "You've thought about this a lot."

A hoarse laugh. "Yeah. First because I had nothing else to think about. Then a lot more analytically when I realized exactly how fucked up I was. Like I said, diagnosed myself with clinical depression about…a year and a half ago I'd say. I read a lot of psychology textbooks."

"Any way to specify your condition?" Dinah asked.

"If I had to, I'd say RBD. Closest match in symptoms. Mostly, I can handle it pretty well. Keep moving and traveling, doing stuff to convince myself that yes, I do matter. Talking to people about it helps, which is why..." she made a vague gesture, indicating the other woman. "It usually isn't too bad unless I'm in one place for a long time. I hate being stuck. It makes me just get slightly melancholy in general. My emotions start to build up, more than I can smooth over with meditation and mental blocks. I start having random breakdowns, crying and curling up as bad memories come back. Typically, they happen once every six months. That's if everything's fine, and only because sometimes I just need to release tension." Here she looked up from her hands and made eye contact with Canary. "I've had six this month alone. Not good."

"Do you know why?"

"Partly, it's being stuck here. No offense, but I hate staying in one place too long. I usually move around. A lot. So having to stay in one place for an extended period of time makes me a little twitchy. I can barely stand taking a month of leave. And even then, I go all over the world. Sometimes more than one." She gave a sad little smile. "Usually, I can use empathy on myself to keep it under control, but if I'm tired, using a lot of effort, or it's just really strong…" Eve shook her head. "It all adds up. Right now, it's too much. December's hard for me. Got even harder with the wisdom teeth thing. It's just…a lot of crap right now. And I needed to talk to someone besides my foster brother and best friends. So…yeah," she ends lamely.

Black Canary leaned forward, hands under her chin. "It seems to me that overall, you have a fairly good handle on the situation. You understand what you're going through. You know why and how you feel that way. But your usual method of fixing it isn't working, so you're looking for other ways."

"That pretty much sums it up."

"I realize that your system works, but running away from your problems can't be healthy, Eve. Have you considered—"

"I am _not_ taking medication," she said, very firmly. "Aside from the fact that the idea makes me profoundly uncomfortable, it's also impractical and dangerous to depend on something I might not always be able to get to. I'm not full-on suicidal or intensely claustrophobic yet, so I'll take my chances."

"Claustrophobic?"

"It's happened before."

"Eve, would you really commit suicide?"

The girl let out a sigh and stared at the wall. "Not actively, no. As in I wouldn't go find a cliff and jump off. But if I did have to sacrifice myself so everyone else could live, I would do that." She looked Black Canary directly in the eye. "And so would you."

The woman didn't even try to deny that. "Do you really think you deserve to die?"

"Do I really deserve to live?" she asked, quietly. "I've killed people. I killed—" she snapped her mouth shut.

Black Canary stared at the girl. "We all make mistakes. We've all had accidents. It doesn't—"

"No," she snapped. "I—" She swallowed and tried again. "I—" she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I have to go." She got up and started to leave the room.

"Eve," Dinah called. The young woman turned around, fear and tears mingling in her eyes. Black Canary met them steadily.

"Thank you for coming to me with this. If you ever do become ready to talk about this, I'll still be here. Everything you say in this room is confidential."

Gratitude seemed to shine from her face. "Thank you," she said quietly, before vanishing out the door.

* * *

**Uh…hi?**

**Late chapter is late. Sorry?**

**Got a lot of crap going on right now. Teachers seem to read 'end-of-year' and think "Oh, let's pile on more homework!" I should really be doing logarithms right now…I hate math. Gah!**

**But yeah, here's the chapter. I've been thinking about Eve's backstory so much in my head that it's hard for me to remember that I haven't actually explained well…any of it. I hope this helps. Any questions, just ask in a review. **

**And people looking for an update of ATDL...I'm so sorry! It should be up by Wednesday...ish. Suffering from writing constipation lately.**

**IMPORTANT QUESTION! PLEASE READ!**

**I don't know what to do with the next chapter. I feel like I've done too much angst here, and I should do something fun. Which is why the next chapter is either going to be set on the Watchtower, where there will be this big New year's party that the Team gets invited to, and it will be fun and fluffy and possibly involve Truth or Dare. So there's that. ****_Or _****I do another chapter involving another therapy session that leads off of this one. People who have read my first story, you know what's going to happen. Either way, I haven't started writing it yet, so I NEED INPUT. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE?**

**Mailbox Time!**

**Xemidemon: Thanks! And yeah, it pretty much does. **

**Sass-mistress-lucifer: Thanks in general! But I will be rewriting it. Already working on it now…when I really should be doing math, English, and stories that I actually need to consistently update…**

**Piggythelaw: AP exams could and should be classified as inhumane torture. Thank you! She sees herself as the tough-older-sister, so she'd try to do that. And I prefer pizza, but if French Fries are part of the deal, I'd have to go with those…**


	22. The REAL New Year's Party

**GAH!**

**To all those people who checked this out the first time, SORRY! Computer...issues...**

**eesanchez95, BLESS YOU for letting me know! I am so sorry this didn't work out! **

**Okay, this is the actual chapter. I'll get out of the way now.**

* * *

**Watchtower**

**December 31****st**

**23:27 EDT**

No one was quite sure how it had been done, but Batman had somehow been convinced to hold a New Year's party on the Watchtower. Even more shockingly, he had allowed the Team to attend.

Not all members of the League had been happy about this. Wally had been eavesdropping on Black Canary's chat with Green Arrow, who had been one of the complaining ones.

"_Come on, Dinah, having the kids there will cramp my style! How am I supposed to party without being a bad influence?"_

_"__I think that might be the point, Ollie."_

Given Batman's well-known disapproval of the chaos that tended to erupt when the Leaguers got drunk, that was a definite possibility.

So now Wally was hanging awkwardly around the tables of food set up in the main bay and trying to ignore both the glares of the irritated Leaguers (Uncle Barry was on his yearly date with Aunt Iris, and therefore couldn't rescue him…damn.) and the box in his pocket. Even though scientifically he knew the jewelry box couldn't weigh any more than an ounce at the absolute most, he would swear that it had quintupled in mass since he had tucked it in there.

All in all, it was a fairly uncomfortable situation.

"Hey, Wally!"

"Yeeaaugh!" Wally stumbled forward, drawing several glares from various Leaguers.

"Heh heh…sorry!" he called. They collectively rolled their eyes and returned to their conversations. "Don't _do_ that!" he hissed at Robin. A double take soon followed when he realized that the evil bird who had startled him into embarrassment was, in fact, Jason. "Great. As if one ninja wasn't bad enough. Clearly, you need the Wall-man's influence!" He struck one of his more ridiculous poses.

"Yeah, no. Come on and let the stiffs have their stupid party. We're all in the kitchen."

Wally turned around to ask where the kitchen was…

…only to find that Jason had vanished.

"Stupid ninja!" he hissed under his breath. A soft cackle from the duct made him glare at it before grabbing one last cookie and running off in the direction the cackle was moving.

* * *

Eventually, with some help from Blue Beetle (Nice guy, and smart enough to talk chemistry with Wally. If it hadn't been for the birdarang hurled at his head, he might have stayed to finish his chat.), Wally found his way into the kitchen and promptly smacked a lounging Jason on the back of the head. "You're an asshole."

"Wally!" Troia admonished. She had been chatting with Jason from her spot beside him on the floor.

Wally pointed a single finger at the offending second Robin. "If you ever pull something like that again, I'll tell the Rogues that you're an imposter who got rid of the first one and have them kidnap you."

"Please. Like that would ever happen."

Dick and Artemis started laughing, and even M'gann chuckled and Kaldur and Conner both smirked. Rocket and Zatanna walked into the room, looking at the rest of them like they were absolutely crazy. Which they were.

"Okay, what did we miss?' Raquel asked, plopping down on the couch next to Kaldur.

The Atlantian continued to smirk. "Wally threatened Jason with kidnapping by the Rogues. Jason was…skeptical."

Raquel and Zatanna both snorted.

"Wait, he was _serious_?" Jason asked, looking from one original member to the other.

"Yup." Zatanna let out a tired sigh and flopped down between Artemis and Dick on the couch.

"They wanted to make sure you guys were okay!"

"When was this?" Nightwalker looked down from a spot near the ceiling.

"Almost a couple years ago now," M'gann admitted. "So, we were in Central, helping Wally stop a robbery…"

"Which was being perpetrated by the Rogues," Kaldur said, taking up the story. "Kid Flash was first on the scene…"

"As usual," Robin interjected. "Seriously, KF, would it kill you to not rush in?"

"I believe I am telling the story here," Kaldur informed the Boy Wonder. "Nevertheless, you have a point."

"Hey!" Wally interjected from where he had settled next to Artemis.

"_Anyway_…" Jason said, annoyed. "Story?"

"So, Kid Mouth here's the first on the scene," Artemis said loudly, poking Wally in the stomach. "And we're all coming up, and we hear the whole group chatting with him in the middle of a fight, and they corner him or something, and we just hear him say…"

* * *

_"__Well, you just wait till my team gets here!"_

_Artemis held back a groan from her hiding spot in the shadows. _:Y'know, there's such a thing as the element of _surprise,_ Kid Idiot.:

_"__WHAT?!" _

_The shocked outburst came from one of the Rogues, though it was difficult from her vantage point to tell whom._

_"__Baby Flash has a _team?_" _

_That, she could recognize. It was Trickster. She slipped around to the other side of the building to get a better look._

_Once she did, it took a supreme force of will to keep from snickering. Wally was tied up with streamers and dangling upside down over a mirror-like sheet of ice. Four others stood there, and she could recognize them from the villain profiles Batman had given them all._

_Captain Cold, of course, who was obvious from his blue parka, looked annoyed. His trademark gun poked out from his crossed arms, just under his scowl._

_Captain Boomerang held one of his namesake weapons, cocked behind his head and ready to throw, aimed at the rope holding Wally up. His expression was nothing but confusion. _

_Trickster, bright pink hair sticking out all over the place, looked absolutely heartbroken. He was giving Wally his best puppy pout, complete with trembling lip._

_Mirror Master stepped out of the window, looking annoyed. "And how come you never told us about this before?"_

_"__You joined a _team_?" Trickster asked, hiccupping. "Bu-but you were sup-supposed to join _our_ team! You promised!"_

:Wait, _what?_:

_Pretty much everyone on the mental link had the same thought, all directed at Wally, who winced. Robin just cackled silently to himself and Aqualad sighed._

_"__Oi, 'ow do we know these mates of yers can keep you safe?" Boomerang asked. "I reckon we ought to 'ave a bit of a chat with this team."_

_"__No, no, it's fine, they're all fine, more than capable…" Wally said hastily. _

_"__And would this _team_ be the reason you've been spending so much time away from Central?" Cold had stalked forward and was waving his gun around to make his point. It took quite a bit of psychic shouting to convince the others to stand down._

_Wally continued struggling to escape the streamers, but just made himself start spinning in midair. He slowly revolved to face the head Rogue again, a sheepish look on his face. "…Yes…"_

_"__As well as why your arm got broken?"_

_"__Well, it did happen on one of our missions…"_

_"__That's it!" Mirror Master yelled. "We need to have a talk with your team."_

_"__Wha—No! No, c'mon, Uncle Sam, _please_ don't…"_

_"__They're why Baby Flash got hurt?" Trickster asked. "I'll get 'em!"_

:Um…should we run?:

_Robin's cackles and Kaldur's sighs continued to echo over the mental link. _:No. There is no point. Just…wait.:

:For what?:

_"__Gotcha!"_

_Artemis yelped as a pair of hands grabbed her through the window she was hiding next to. She was dragged through another dimension, only catching a few scattered glimpses of endless mirrors before getting hauled out onto the pavement. There was a loud _wheeeee!_ noise and streamers shot out to wrap around her entire body, binding her tightly. Miss Martian, Superboy, Aqualad, Robin, Zatanna, and Rocket followed shortly. _

_"__I am so, so, sorry about this, guys," Wally said, slowly rotating to the left. _

_Artemis glared. "I'm so breaking up with you."_

_The reaction from the Rogues was immediate and deeply satisfying. Trickster started giggling and hugging her and welcoming her to the family, Mirror Master started squawking unintelligibly at the top of his lungs, Boomerang was yelling what were probably swears in a thick Australian accent, (and she really hoped that none of his odd slang meant what she thought it did) and Captain Cold was demanding to know if Wally had been given "the Talk" yet._

_Wally was blushing bright red, trying to sort it all out, and failing miserably._

_Eventually, they left, after a number of things had been sorted out. First and foremost, Artemis had been threatened with multiple gruesome fates if she broke Wally's heart. Once that was out of the way, they had extracted a promise that she would come over for dinner some night. The rest of the Team had been first interrogated to ensure they were trustworthy, and then similarly threatened if they ever allowed Wally, or "Baby Flash," rather, to get hurt. _

_Once they were back on the Bio-ship, everyone was starting to come out of their semi-confused daze, but it was Conner who spoke first._

_He turned to Wally with a look of pure bewilderment and asked, "_Baby_ Flash?"_

_The speedster, whose face had turned the same shade as his hair, sheepishly yelled, "Shut up!"_

_And that was that._

_At least until Wally got a severe concussion on a recon mission._

_The rest of the Team woke up in the middle of an indoor rainstorm and were tied to chairs for the duration of a three-hour lecture on why they should take better care of Kid Flash._

_Flash showed up halfway through and joined in._

* * *

Everyone was laughing by the end of the story.

Jason just snorted and crossed his arms. "Yeah? Like they could ever get the drop on me."

Wally rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Y'know, once they realize that the Team has gotten bigger, they're going to want to do background checks on all of you…and probably meet you…"

"Oh, _hell_ no," Jason said, looking horrified. "Gotham's got enough crazies."

"The Rogues aren't all that bad," Eve mused, turning over midair to look down. "And Hartley's always fun to talk music with, even if he does prefer winds."

"Wait, you know Piper?" Wally asked.

"Long story. But yeah, I've met the Rogues. And no, I can't tell you about it."

"Why not?"

She snickered. "I have been threatened to within an inch of my life if details of that incident ever leak. Sorry."

"Who's going to find out?" Wally _really_ wanted to hear this story now.

Eve raised an eyebrow at him. "Think triply-paranoid future Robin who does not trust me alone in another dimension. Add that to a mutual friendship with a genius hacker who actually has the ability to hack across dimensions and an equal dose of overprotectiveness. Plus, we're surrounded by cameras, so…no. Lips zipped."

The speedster let out an irritated sigh. _"Fine._ But you're getting kidnapped first."

"Noted. Hey, two minutes till midnight, if anyone's interested."

Wally looked up at the clock to see that indeed she was right. While he had been trying to wheedle information out of her, everyone else had drifted off to their own conversations. The time announcement caught their attentions, so everyone drifted into more-or-less couple-like formations. Jason and Troia started shifting closer to each other (very, very, slowly) Zatanna plopped herself down next to Dick, Rocket subtly shifted herself close to Kaldur and made sure he wasn't looking at Garth and Tula, Conner pulled M'gann a little closer, and he snagged Artemis's hand and motioned at the door with his head. She got up and followed him.

"Okay, please tell me you're not proposing, because that would be _way_ too cheesy," she said as soon as he door closed behind them.

Wally fidgeted nervously, trying very hard not to think about how sexy she looked in her tight pine green dress with a little scoop neck and a flare just above the knees and long sleeves that clung to her arm muscles and _dammit Wally you're not thinking about it…_

"No, I just…" He carefully pulled the box out of his pocket and played with it. "We're both going off to college soon, and I just wanted to say that I…I really care about you. And I know that a lot of things are going to change, but…" Wally took a deep breath and opened the box, holding it out to her. "It's not a big thing. Just, like, a promise. To stay friends, no matter what happens. Outside of the whole crime-fighting gig."

Artemis just stared into the box for a minute, and then slowly and carefully pulled out a small silver and emerald arrow pendent on a thing silver chain.

"It's…it's bea—very pretty." She quickly corrected herself, blushing furiously.

"Beautiful," he said firmly. "Just like you, babe." Wally carefully took it out of her hands and leaned forward, vaguely hearing everyone else count down from ten.

He deliberately slid the chain around her neck, fastening the delicate clasp as gently as he could, doing his best not to snag it in any of her long blonde hair.

"_3…2…"_

At _one,_ she pulled him forward and let her lips explode onto his as _Auld Lang Syne_ played somewhere in the background.

_Best New Year's ever._

* * *

**GAAAAAAHHHHHH!**

**(Deep breath.)**

**Okay. First, sorry about the abysmally late update. Extremely sorry.**

**Second, sorry about the kerfuffle and how the last chapter got posted wrong. Again, multiple thanks to eesanchez95 for pointing that out!**

**Um. As you can see, this chapter turned into a New Year's party. Next chapter will involve another therapy session. I don't know when it will be posted. Sorry!**

**This didn't really include N all that much...and it turned into a very fluffy Spitfire chapter. I might actually rewrite this to get rid of Night and post it as a one-shot. Thoughts?**

**REVIEW! For the love of the English language that allows me to craft these stories, REVIEW!**

**Speaking of which...**

**Mailbox Time!**

**Xemidemon: (Evil cackles...) Thank you! Feels are candy to a writer. (But reviews are Alfred's cookies...hint hint...) Sorry that you didn't get the chapter you wanted. That one wil be up next.**

**Piggythelaw: Yes, yes it does. Sorry, no truth or dare. Went with storytime instead. Mmmm...probably the past. **

**Mango-sama: Yes! Sibling interactions, always fun! And no, they take no crap. And yeah...issues. Major issues. Sorry it took me so long to get to her backstory. I had it plotted out so well in my head that I totally forgot I hadn't put it in a chapter...eesh...And yeah, stuff is gonna go down next chapter. **

**Eesanchez95: Thanks again for letting me know. And yeah, I did a fun one...the angst was starting to get to me...**

**SpectreFanchin10: Erm...she's from what the X-men world would have been if the X-men had never existed. An alternate universe. PM me if you want to know more.**


	23. Flashbacks and Flashing Knives

**The Cave**

**January 3****rd**

**9:12 EDT**

The mission had not gone well.

True, the objective had been accomplished…

But the mission had not gone well.

The warehouse had gone up in flames, and by some cruel coincidence, the four members of the Team most vulnerable to heat had been in closest proximity to the blast.

They were currently in the med lab, being treated for burns (ranging from minor to less so) and various scrapes and bruises. The rest of the Team members had been kicked out, and were dealing with their tension in the waiting room.

No one was really coping well. The overflow of restless energy from the thumb-twiddlers, foot-tappers, pacers, and even restless fliers only served to make the tense atmosphere even worse. Conner just sat with his eyes locked on the door and his fists clenched so tight they might snap.

Batman stepped in, no doubt to try and collect a report, but when he was met with the sight of over half a dozen antsy teenagers, he just said, "I expect your reports within the next six hours" and left.

After an intolerably long wait, the door swished open and Black Canary stepped out.

"You can go in and see them now."

There was practically a stampede to get to the door. By silent agreement, though, everyone let Conner and Rocket go first.

The three Atlantians and the Martian were all sitting in their own hospital beds. They looked…fine.

Aside from the myriad of bandages they all wore.

And the fact that Kaldur and M'gann were unconscious.

Conner stood next to M'gann's bed, a silent sentry, while everyone checked on her and Kal before going over to talk with Garth and Tula.

Well, almost everyone.

Eve had frozen at the foot of Kaldur's bed and was staring at his unconscious, bruised, form, a haunted, unknowable look in her eyes.

_Bloody forms, lying broken on the ground…_

_Nightmares, slipped inside her head…a familiar face lying dead at her feet…_

_Cal…_

_Brother…_

_No…_

_A silver knife, dipped in red, falling from her hand. _

No one had noticed her freezing yet, but it was only a matter of time. She had to break this, had to break out of this. She couldn't let them catch her—couldn't let them find out.

She almost jumped out of her skin at the hand placed gently on her shoulder.

"_Eve._" Black Canary was trying to catch her attention, with an inflection that made it sound like she had been talking for a while. "You're hurt."

"What?" Eve looked down at her left arm to see a slit across her bicep. It wasn't extremely deep, but it was fairly long and bleeding sluggishly.

"Oh." Her voice sounded floaty in her ears. "Yeah, yeah, it's…just a cut."

"_Just_ a _cut_?" Dinah asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I mean—a scratch, just a scratch. It's fine. It'll be fine. I just need to…"

_I need to get out of here. I need to go._

"Eve, you aren't leaving the mountain." Dinah's calm eyes brooked no argument.

_Damn you._

"Fine," the woman grated out. She yanked her arm out of the superhero's hold and stalked out of the med lab.

"Eve!" Black Canary called after her.

"I. Am. _Fine!_" she yelled back.

The door to the waiting room slammed shut, serving only to further discredit her claim.

Eve ran down the hallway of the mountain, pulse pounding in her ears, memories drifting up from a corner of her mind she preferred not to touch.

* * *

_Knives. All around her, knives, winking and glistening._

_She knew all of them—knew how to throw them, how to catch them, the 'sweet spots' where each one sank up to their hilt into the targets._

_Robin had made her learn. He told her it was to conquer her fear, but even once she was no longer afraid, he made her keep doing it, made her keep practicing, until her hands had dozens of cuts on them—marks of carelessness she could no longer afford. _

_Cuts were nothing to her now. When she had first lost her fear of sharp blades, Robin had thrown them at her to make sure she wouldn't flinch, wouldn't turn away. To make sure she could take it. _

_She might have questioned it, but she knew that Robin was right. Robin was always right._

_She loved the way the clouds went away when she fought or trained. Her mind felt clear and sharp, every inch focused on her work. They came back all too quickly when she stopped, fogging her brain, soothing her, dulling her senses. And while they might feel wonderful, she valued the clarity of fighting more. _

_"__Yvonne."_

_The voice broke her out of her practicing, and she turned and bowed. Why did she bow?_

_The clouds came back. She bowed because Robin told her to._

_And Robin was right. Robin was always right._

_"__I have a mission for you."_

_A mission? He was giving her a mission?_

_"__A mission?" she echoed._

_"__Yes." His voice was annoyed. She had done something wrong._

_She bowed again. "Yes, sir. What is it?"_

_"__You are going to be taking out a very bad man," he explained._

_A joke occurred to her, but she did not voice it. Jokes irritated Robin._

_"__You mean killing?"_

_"__Yes."_

_"__But…killing is wrong." Her mind was furiously working to reconcile this, even under the clouds._

_"__No, it isn't. Not for you."_

_"__Oh." Robin was right, of course. Robin was always right. _

_"__That's why you have that costume," he explained, gesturing at the black jumpsuit she wore. A green patch was stitched over the heart, with a stylized tree on it. The branches and roots stretched out and around, twisting into a border of Celtic knots. Identical patches were set on the back of the black fingerless gloves that protected her palms._

_"__Did you know your name means yew-tree?"_

_She did._

_"__The yew is famous for its wood, used in longbows, and its berries, which are a deadly poison. They are found growing in graveyards—symbols of death and sadness. In runic language, eihwaz, the symbol of the yew, also means 'defense.' You were named to be a killer, Yvonne. It's your birthright."_

_"__Oh." Robin was right, of course. Robin was always right. _

_"__Which is why you have these." Robin held out a wooden box, and she took it, carefully opening it._

_Inside, a belt of throwing knives shone in the light. Their silver handles, engraved with patterns of leaves, winked up at her. _

_"__Coated with triply strong taxus poison. Get some of that into a man's bloodstream, and his heart will stop in minutes. You ready?"_

_She was going to say no. She was going to say…She was going to…She was going…She was…She…_

_The fogginess pressed down on her mind, and forced out two words._

_"__Yes, sir."_

* * *

Back in the present, Eve skidded to a halt outside the armory. She was panting, breathing hard, but she didn't want to stop. She had to keep moving, she had to keep doing something, or everything was going to fall apart.

Her eyes went to the armory doors.

Eve knew that they had what she wanted inside. She had been through it more than once, out of boredom.

Except…did she really want to? Could she deal with it?

_I've already got the trauma in my head. I might as well see if I can still use the skills I got out of it._

She entered the code and stepped inside, wincing at the harsh fluorescent lighting.

The room was filled with all sorts of weaponry. At one end were a dozen worktables, most of them strewn with personal weapons. Every member of the Team had one to maintain their equipment. Robin and Artemis could be found in here nearly every day, cleaning or replacing birdarangs or arrows.

But it was the stuff on this end that interested her.

A vast assortment of miscellaneous weapons—swords, darts, a couple extra bow and arrow sets—were set up along one wall. The other wall held a multitude of practice dummies and targets, a weight set, and a sparring ring.

This used to be the old training room, back before the fancy holographic floor had been installed. It still held the right smell—a hint of dust, a hint of wood varnish, metal polish, and gunpowder.

At first, the young woman ignored most of the items on the wall, and busied herself setting up a series of dummies and targets along the side.

Halfway through moving a weighted dummy, there was a flare of pain in her arm. She let out a hiss and dropped the dummy, grabbing her arm with one hand and gritting her teeth.

_Guess that's what I get for storming off without medical attention._

She pulled off her fedora and set it on a table, stripped off the ruined, bloodstained trenchcoat and sweater, and pulled off her shirt to tear into strips, using one of them to bind up her arm. It would do until she could sneak into the med lab. There was no point in putting the shirt back on, so she just went back to work in pants and a sports bra.

When Eve was satisfied with the position of her various targets, she stood back and memorized their positions, then walked over to one of the long, narrow drawers and slid it open.

Dozens of throwing knives rested there, all identical, all absolutely plain and unadorned. She lifted one and tested the heft.

Not blade-heavy, not handle-heavy. Balanced.

Perfect.

She lifted the tray out and set it down on a worktable standing just next to the tape that marked the far edge of the range. It was just a testing range, but it served her purposes.

Eve shifted into her stance, breathing deeply, ignoring the memories that come crashing back to her. She took the first knife, cocked her arm back, and hurled it forward…

Only to miss the target by three feet.

No biggie. It had been years.

She tried again, pushing all emotion out of her mind.

That one missed as well. In fact, all of them missed, except for the one that landed on the very edge of the target, hung there for ten seconds, and fell off. The harder she tried to clear her mind, the more crowded it got, until she couldn't focus and all the knives lay scattered on the floor.

"_Agh!_" she yelled, frustration in her voice drowning out everything else. "Why can't I get this _right?_"

Eve stalked down the range, kicked the target, and collapsed, burying her face in her knees, trying to block the world out.

It didn't work. Her mind refused to settle, refused to calm. It spun in circles, bringing up memories she didn't want to see, didn't want to deal with.

"Get _out_ of my _head,_" she whispered, bringing up her hands to cover her ears, and looking up at the ceiling.

She froze at the sight of the lights. Dark…her mind had always worked better in the dark.

A reminder rose up from the back of her brain. "_You're an empath, idiot. That means working _with _your emotions, not locking them away._"

"Idiot," she whispered to herself. "Duh!"

Eve rose to her feet and scooped up all the knives, bringing them back up the range to the table. She stared hard at each target, memorizing them and fixing their positions in her mind, before calling out a command.

"Computer! Authorization B-one-zero. Lights off."

There was a brief flicker of darkness before it totally engulfed the room.

Eve let an unseen feral grin spread across her face before hurling the knife she held ready.

The satisfying _thunk_ told her that she'd hit, and plunged her right back into the world of memories.

* * *

_Her room was small. It was tucked away at the bottom of the cave, for her own safety, Robin said, and it was barely larger than a cubicle. It had a bed and a toilet with a cover that went on top to make a seat, but that was it._

_What she loved most about it was that it was _dark.

_It was always dark in her room—her own little pocket of safety. The only sounds were the Spanish language tapes Robin insisted she learn and repeat back, and even those only lasted for an hour or two at most. The rest of the time was hers, just to be in the dark and quiet and peace._

_On the days she had missions, the jumpsuit would be folded up next to her bed, and she learned to hate the feel of the Kevlar and spandex, just as she learned to hate the feel of wetness on her skin, afraid that it would become dry and sticky like the blood that crawled on her skin during and after missions. The fogginess always kept her from feeling upset in the light, but in the dark, she was free to hate the suit and what it represented. Somehow, whenever she was in the dark, everything held that same fighting clarity to it. _

_And she felt that something was deeply, deeply, wrong._

_But as soon as she dressed and the door slid open, she stepped outside and felt the fog settle. Nothing was wrong. Everything was exactly as it should be._

_"__Yvonne, are you prepared for your mission tonight?"_

_The assassin nodded, strapping on her knives and slotting her shortened bo-staff into its holster before sliding her black leather jacket over the ensemble to conceal it. This must have been the tenth or so time she had performed a job for Robin. Every time, it nagged a little more at her head that_ this wasn't right.

_But the fog swooped back in, and clouded her head. At the same time, her thoughts cleared._

_She was Yvonne. She was the yew-tree. She was a killer._

_She was ready._

* * *

_Yvonne rode on the back of Robin's bike to reach the location, as she always did. This time, however, he dropped her off several blocks away._

_"__I don't think you need to be monitored tonight. Do your job, and do it right, then meet me back here."_

_She nodded and jumped off, before finding a fire escape and scaling it, looking down after she's reached the top._

_Robin had gunned the motorbike and headed off, and she frowned as she studied him from above. He was dressed in his costume—his new one. It was a black bodysuit with a long red cape, longer than his old one, and red gloves and boots with a red T patch over his heart. _

_She had asked him about it, once._

_He had told her that he wanted a change and she shouldn't think about it. So she hadn't._

_But now, she was. _

_She was thinking about too much tonight. It seemed like the fog was retreating. Just a bit. _

_As soon as she thought that, of course, another wave of clouds washed over her mind. What was she doing on this rooftop? She had a mission._

_Yvonne turned and started running across the rooftops, her black hair cut to just below her chin._

_She had a job to do._

* * *

_The security was pitiably easy. She merely placed a bug on the alarm system and waited for it to do its work, then landed on the windowsill. Her upper body strength had increased exponentially, so she was able to slowly lower herself down, bit by bit so they didn't notice._

_There were three guards. This one was smarter than the others, who only had one. But that just made her job harder, since she would have to kill them all…_

_Wait, what? No, she didn't want to kill them, she didn't want to kill anyone…_

_The fogginess inside her head was becoming sparse, but that which remained _pushed, _ and she could feel her hands automatically moving to the knives tucked in the bandolier across her chest before hurling them._

_She was able to gain enough control to change her trajectory and sever the Achilles tendons of the guards, before tossing more in a trick move that made them spin in midair so the pommel collided with their temples, knocking them out. These weren't the poisonous ones. The guards would live._

_With them out of the way, she hurled several more and imbedded them in the man's clothes, pinning them to the back of his chair before he could rise. _

_Why didn't she just kill him?_

No…I can't kill him…

_You have to. _

No! I won't!

_"__So, Owlman sends his new pet assassin after me." The man was speaking, and it pushed the fog back a bit more as she struggled over whether or not she was supposed to kill the man. _Why should she?_ Why shouldn't she? Wait—Owlman?_

_"__Owlman?" she asked. Her voice came out as a croak. "I work with Robin."_

_"__Who?" He raised an eyebrow at her. _

_"__Batman's partner. My br—boss." Once, she would have called him brother, but…Robin had changed._

_"__Batman? My dear, the only nocturnal lunatics around here are Owlman, and his partner, Talon."_

_The stunned look on her face as the knives slipped from her fingers must have been evidence enough that she was in unfamiliar territory here, so he kept talking._

_"__I can see that you were unaware of this. I find that odd, considering you've been systematically killing all those who refused to pay his protection fees for the past month. I suppose that now includes me. Well, never let it be said that Ra's al Ghul faced death ungracefully. You may fire when ready." He closed his eyes and leaned back. _

Ra's al Ghul.

_The name entered her mind like a literal thunderbolt, bringing with it a fresh rush of memories that swept away the stale fog and gave her that blessed clarity she had been craving for months._

_Ra's al Ghul had caught her and Robin and locked them in a room, ready to make them fight to the death. She had sacrificed herself, refusing to let Robin die because of her. _

_The next thing she knew, she had woken up in the dark…_

_…__only to meet someone who was _definitely_ not Robin._

I'm _such_ an _idiot._

_The poisoned knife she held in her other hand fell as well, clattering to the ground as her mind worked frantically. The fogginess was gone, leaving behind an awful truth._

_This was not her world. That person out there was not Robin. She was not an assassin._

_But…she was a murderer now._

_"__I'm sorry," she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm so, so, sorry." _

_She spun on her heel and dove out the window, praying she would hit the ground and erase the poisonous abomination she had become from existence. _

* * *

Eve mechanically threw the knives at where she knew the targets were, letting her mind work through the awful memories.

There was no closure, and probably never would be. At this point, probing at them, when she actually did it, was something done with a vindictive and painful grim satisfaction. She was, she thought, rightfully punishing herself for the horrible things she had done.

Still, tears ran down her face, making her glad she wasn't doing this in the light. In the dark, it wasn't quite the same as being back in the Void, but it was _so close_ that it was equal parts painful and comforting.

She missed the Void. It was one of the few places where she felt truly safe, truly secure, truly comfortable. It was home more than any place else on earth. Any of them.

Eve gritted her teeth and continued to throw. There must have been over a hundred knives in this drawer, and she wasn't stopping until she got through all of them and had no choice.

So she let the bad memories sweep over her, forcing herself to relive every knife she had thrown, every life she had ended, every time she had let her poisonous touch spread.

She didn't want to justify it. She didn't want comfort, didn't want sympathy. She wanted to hurt and hate and throw the damn knives until her fingers bled.

So she did.

* * *

_The fall didn't kill her. Of course, it's never that fall that kills you. It's the hitting the ground that really kills you._

_If only she had hit the ground…_

_Instead, Ro—no, Talon—had come swinging out of nowhere, caught her, and dropped her on the ground._

_She had immediately taken off running for the nearest alleyway, intending to lose herself in the dark._

_The birdarang (owlrang? Talonrang? What was wrong with her life?) shooting in front of her face impeded her progress, and she came to a halt, panting._

_"__Where are you going? Did you finish the mission?"_

_Yvonne—no, not that, not anymore—_Eve_ spun around to confront him._

_"__Leave me alone, you bastard," she hissed. _

_He let out a frustrated groan. "I _knew_ sending Manhunter away was asking for trouble. So the little mutant girl finally remembers."_

_Her eyes went wide. "How—how did—"_

_"__We know everything about you, Yvonne." He started to stalk towards her, and she drew her knives and began circling around him, trying to avoid getting backed up against a wall. "About how you hid, and lied. About your pathetic adopted brother you cried about at night. About the girl whom you thought loved you…but couldn't even stand the sight of you when she knew the truth. About how you were so desperate to have someone to lean on that you latched onto the first person you saw…" His smile grew wide and deranged. "And anyone who looked like him."_

_"__Stay the _fuck_ away from me." She was hoping it would come out as a growl, but it was more of a desperate plea._

_Talon's smirk grew into a deranged smile. "Oh, my dear, why would we ever do that?"_

_Eve took a step back, and then another, before running off into the alley. She made it twenty feet before Talon dropped down into her way._

_"__You really think you can run? Or hide? We know everything about you. We own this world. You know _nothing, _save what we allowed you to. Besides, who would trust you anymore? You're an assassin. A murderer. You've killed people at _our_ orders. No one would ever trust you again." He extended a hand towards her. "Coming with me is your only option."_

_"__Like hell it is, you sadistic asshole. I am _never_ allowing you to so much as touch me again."_

_"__Wanna bet?" He lunged forward and grabbed for her arm, but she dodged and grabbed onto a nearby gutter, hauling herself up onto the fire escape. _

_It was a bit of a standoff for a moment as she stood on the second level. If he came up after her, she could go for the roof while he was occupied with climbing. If he grappled to the roof, she could go back down. _

_Of course, the standoff couldn't last forever._

_A shadow descended from above, and a minute later she was falling. _

_Talon caught her and whacked her so hard on the back of the head that she saw stars and collapsed to the ground._

_"__I thought you said you had her under control." That was Ba—no, _Owlman's_ voice. _

_"__I _did._" Talon was frustrated. _

_"__Clearly, you don't. You heard what Manhunter said. The only reason he managed to control her this long is because she was complacent. Now, who knows? It might be safer to just eliminate her now."_

_In the bleary depths of her mind, Eve was happy. Yes, kill her. She deserved it._

_"__True, safer…" Talon mused. Eve wanted to flinch back, away from the hand softly stroking her hair, but was too stunned to move. "But not nearly as much fun."_

_A soft kiss was placed on her cheek. It wasn't loving—more like the kind you would bestow on a pet. "You'll see."_

_An irritated sigh. "Fine. She is yours, after all."_

_Eve was incredibly, massively, unspeakably grateful when the darkness rose up to swallow her._

* * *

The effect of all this turmoil inside her mind was such that when the light flicked on and there were a noise of shock from the door, she whirled and threw a knife automatically, aiming for the head.

A split second later Eve realized her mistake as the projectile hurtled straight at Donna.

"_Shit!"_ she yelled, as if that would stop the deadly sharp weapons in their flight

Luckily, the girl was far from defenseless. She threw up her gauntleted forearms almost faster than the eye could track and let the knife ricochet off them. As the silver gauntlets lowered, Eve got a clear look at the shocked expression on the girl's face. Dressed in a sports bra and pants, possibly blood-soaked bandage on her upper arm, face tear-streaked, hair messy and tangled and falling out of her ponytail…she must look like a mess.

"Shit. Donna, I am so, so, sorry."

Donna shook her head, wincing slightly as she jarred her right shoulder. "The fault is mine, for startling you. I was unaware that you threw knives. Or that you liked to do so in the dark." The last statement was accompanied with a raised eyebrow.

Eve scowled and looked away. "You were 'unaware' because a potentially lethal skill set isn't something I like to talk about or utilize. I won't be using them on a mission, so I don't care about accuracy, and the dark is…soothing."

"Still, you hit all of those in the dark?"

For the first time, Eve turned to look at the training targets she had lined up. None of the projectiles had hit bulls-eyes, but hardly any were on the floor, either. The majority were scattered across the targets in a multitude of locations—within nearly every ring at least once on various targets, embedded in the shoulders, arms, legs, and stomachs of the training dummies, and spaced evenly along an exposed stretch of wall. She winced at the sight of the hilts in the plaster. Strange, she would have sworn that there was a target there.

"It's not that impressive. At least not that many missed." She checked the drawer and found it low, then walked over to the equipment side and pulled out another, setting it down beside the first.

She fell back into her pattern, watching this time where she threw them. Her mind was still tearing itself to bits, so they weren't particularly accurate, but at least they were all hitting.

Donna watched for a minute, and then commented, "Black Canary sent me to look for you."

The next knife faltered and fell just short of hitting the target.

Eve cursed, walked down the range, and started gathering the weapons, yanking them out and tossing them back down across the wooden floor, where they formed a quickly growing scattered pile. "Did she want anything?"

"She just asked me to let you know, 'when you're ready, I'm here.' She is, I mean. I mean, I'm here as well, but—"

"I get it, Don," Eve broke in with a bit of amusement. She scanned the targets, searching for the rest of the knives, but all of them had been pulled out.

"Oh. Well, then...if you don't want me here, I'll just go…" The Amazonian turned and started walking out the door.

"Donna?"

The girl stopped and turned around, a helpful expression on her face.

"If you could…can you tell her that I'm ready to talk?"

Donna's eyebrows rose up. "Of course!"

"Here. Tell her here."

The young Amazon nodded and headed out the door.

Eve picked up another knife, turned back to the target, and resumed throwing.

Now, she could clearly see the hilts of the knives glinting under the lights.

* * *

_Light shone through the backs of her eyelids, forcing her to wakefulness with a groan. _

_Light. She was in the light._

_Fine, then. She would just have to withstand whatever was planned for her until she could escape back to her safe, comforting dark…_

_…__room._

_Her eyes widened as she sat up. Her surroundings looked unfamiliar, but she recognized the feel of the texture of the blanket under her immediately._

_This was her room…_

_And it was light._

_She looked up at the lamp, then down at a white floor spattered with suspicious rust colored stains._

_The dark was gone._

_All that was left was the fluorescent brightness around her._

_Her darkness, her safe place…it had been violated. Destroyed._

_There was no more safety here. Not ever again._

_So she curled up, tucking her face into her knees and sobbing, hoping to block out the harsh light. _

* * *

**_Gah._**

**This is late, late, abysmally late (by my standards for this story) and I am very sorry. For people looking for an update for ATDL, I am even sorrier. That's gonna take a couple more days.**

**Sorry!**

**Okay, so this is the angst-y backstory chapter I promised you all.**

**Confused?**

**Fair enough. But there will be a follow-up with the actual session in which more is explained, mkay?**

**Huge, huge thanks to Mango-sama for betaing this chapter! I adore you!**

**Reviews, maybe?**

**Mailbox time!**

**eesanchez95: Ha-ha! No, no proposal; I'm trying to stick as close to canon as possible. And yeah, I needed to break up the angst, but have some more!**

**piggythelaw: Yes! I actually got the idea from the one Natasha Romanoff wears in CA: TWS. And I prefer necklaces. I have a bad habit of wearing like three at one time and getting them all tangled up in each other.**

**paperskininkblood: I'm so glad you liked that chapter! Ollie does seem like the worst role model in DC to me. And Spitfire is always, always adorable.**


	24. Backstory and Backwash

**January 3****rd**

**The Cave**

**10:04 EDT**

Eve was gathering knives from the targets when Black Canary arrived.

"Donna says that you wanted to talk to me." Her voice was soft and calming as she took a seat in the corner. She didn't pull up a second one, correctly assuming that Eve wanted to stand.

"Yeah." Eve pulled the last knife out of the target with a vicious yank.

"So, you throw knives?" Canary asked. "It isn't something you should have to be ashamed about, you know. It's not that unusual a skill set. Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, several other Leaguers, including myself—"

"Yeah, well you never used them to assassinate people," Eve snapped, whirling around. A look of horror flashed across her face as she realized just what had escaped her mouth before she shuttered again.

Dinah felt her breath catch in her throat as she attempted to mask her expression. She couldn't suppress her emotions, and from the way the teen flinched, she knew that they were having an impact.

Almost mechanically, Eve slowly rotated and started hurling knives at targets again.

It was a few minutes before she spoke, and when she did, her voice was even huskier and rougher than usual.

"The multiverse is huge. And messy, and erratic, and above all, weird as fuck. There are universes where everyone talks backwards. There are universes populated by talking animals. There's even a universe where Superman crashed down in Russia and fights for communism." Her grip wavered on the hilt on her knife, and she took a steadying breath before she released it. "And there is a universe where Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern…every person who has ever worn the mantle of 'hero' here…there, they are as evil as the worst villains your League fights." Another deep breath that only shook a little. "That's where I woke up." _Thunk._

"I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that…I was alive, I was there, and so was Robin." _Thunk_.

Except it wasn't him." _Thwock-crash._

"It was that world's version. He was…harder. Crueler. And I didn't notice. I didn't notice anything they didn't want me to notice. That world's Manhunter kept my mind under watch. Kept it fogged. I was never sure what I was doing unless I was fighting." _Thunk._

"He made me learn to fight. He made me learn how to throw knives—poisoned ones."

_Thunk._

"He made me into his little pet assassin and made me kill. I would wake up in this dark little room—the place where I slept—and on the days he sent me out, there would be this little pile of a uniform, all folded up, Kevlar and Spandex. Black and green with a little logo over the heart. Exactly the sort of thing a _hero_ would wear."

A few pieces clicked together in Dinah's mind. "So that's why you were so dead-set against wearing a uniform."

"Yup." Eve let out a hoarse chuckle. The first week she had been in the Mountain, Batman had insisted that she get some sort of uniform to wear on missions. He had argued that the fedora and trenchcoat she preferred were "far too casual" and "civilian."

Eve had refused. Point-blank. She was _not_ wearing any sort of "Halloween costume too stiff to move in." She had pointed out Miss Martian's skirt and Zatanna's ensemble, demanding to know whether they were any more battle-worthy than a practical outfit that had served her well many times before. The only concessions she had agreed to were to have her hat spelled so it stayed on her head in the middle of a fight (an _extremely_ handy feature) and to wear a bulletproof vest.

Dinah had thought she was just being obstinate to establish her independence, which had seemed like a perfectly reasonable reaction. Now, though…

_It makes an uncomfortable amount of sense._

"So I would put it on and everything would be a horrible mix of clarity and fogginess until I was back in the room and my hands were covered in blood."

_Thunk. Thunk._

"Except the mind control wasn't working as well as they hoped. Every time I got sent out, it was like…it got better. I saw more, knew more, remembered more. And then…the last time…it was like a dam broke. Nothing was foggy anymore."

_Thunk._

"Mind control didn't work anymore after that. So they didn't bother with it. The three of them just skipped straight to the _fun_ part."

From the chill that ran down Dinah's spine, she had a feeling exactly what that 'fun' part was.

"Torture."

The flat way Eve stated it was more than enough to confirm Dinah's worst feelings.

"I know what you're thinking. In respect to the physical side," Eve said softly. "That didn't happen. They never—touched me that way. Never raped me." A bitter laugh, verging on a wail, escaped. "Didn't mean that they didn't try every other way to hurt me."

The knife clutched in her suddenly loose fingers slipped and fell.

Her last vestige of self-control went with it.

Dinah let her professional air go the same way and knelt down next to Eve, wrapping her in a hug.

"I'll—spare you—the play-by-play," the girl choked out between tears.

It took a long time and several sobs before she spoke again.

"You have no fucking idea how grateful you should be that Batman and Manhunter don't go in for torture here." Her voice was bitter and broken. "Because trust me—they're good at it."

Dinah had no response to that.

"By the end of it—I was losing my mind. I couldn't think, couldn't understand, could barely even hold a desire together. I was a _thing_. There was only one thing I wanted.' She closed her eyes as tears dripped down her cheeks. "I wanted him dead. And lucky me, I figured out a way to do it."

Breathe in, breathe out.

"I was desperate, I was insane, I…I had to do _something._ I just…something…clicked."

Breathe in, breathe out.

"I locked onto the Void and jumped in. And…I dragged _him_ with me. And well…you;ve seen what I can do with Void stuff. He…"

Breathe in, breathe out.

"…disintegrated. Right in front of my eyes."

Breathe in, breathe out.

"The next few months…were hard. Really hard. My empathy…it ran wild…and locked away that part of my brain. The part with those memories. Selective amnesia. But maybe schizophrenia would be more appropriate. I had…breakdowns. Freakouts. And I had _no. Idea. Why._"

Crackly breath in. Crackly breath out. "I—got better. Obviously. Fixed myself. Everything after that is…" she let out a rough chuckle. "Classified. Seven months ago…landed here. Got stuck. You know the rest." A sad huff that was somewhere between a weak sob and a weaker laugh. "And that…is the rest of the summarized story of my shitty life." The tension in her shoulders ran away like water and she collapsed into Dinah, letting a few more tears leak out.

Dinah just held her for a few more minutes. She wasn't sure this particular situation—involving a hysterical empath—had ever been covered in her courses, but she felt this was the right response for now.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, after a few minutes. Even to her own ears, it felt pathetic.

"Don't be. S'not your fault." Eve pulled back. "I'm sorry. For—breaking down like that. I—this room isn't shielded, I need to check the other kids." Already, she was wiping at her eyes, trying to pull some measure of composure back together.

"Eve, it's not a crime to react strongly to something. You don't have to—"

"Yes, I do." There was only a hint of a snap to her voice. It seemed the deep breathing was already working, since her voice had gone back to its normal hoarseness. "Because I'm a freaking _empath._ I sense emotion, I channel it, and when I get _really_ upset? _I project it._" Her tone was level the entire time.

"I shielded my room so that if I have a breakdown in there? No one else gets hit with it. But this room _isn't. _And I haven't been in good enough shape to shield myself. So right now, the rest of the Team is probably feeling sad and angry and just generally messed up _without knowing why._ I need to fix that." Her face had gone stone-cold, puffy eyes and tear tracks the only traces of loss of composure.

"Eve, not everything is your responsibility."

"But this is." The younger woman stood up and wiped at her eyes, trying to clear the traces even more. "I promise I'll come back and clean up later."

"_Eve._" Dinah was on her feet in seconds, grabbing at the empath's arm. "Please don't keep this bottled up. There are so many people here who care about you. We don't want to see you hurt."

The still mask was cracked by a sad smile. "Too late. And thanks for listening, Dinah, but I…and the rest of you…and…" She sighed. "I don't want people to care about me. Everyone who has…I always wind up hurting them." Eve slipped out of Dinah's grasp, grabbed her things, and walked away.

The superhero stood alone in the armory for a few minutes, before sighing and picking up all of the knives and tucking them back into their boxes. When she had finished, she set them all on one of the unclaimed tables, setting them in order. She even dug out a small container of metal polish, a cloth, and a sharpener, and set them on the table next to the boxes.

If Eve wasn't going to let Dinah give her the help the younger girl needed…then she would have to try and offer silent help when she could.

Dinah had a feeling that in the future, she would be seeing a lot more hours logged at the weapons room and a lot more targets needing replacement.

_If it helps her…then Bruce is just going to have to get used to shelling out for knives._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eve slipped silently out of the med-bay, which was now empty except for the patients in the beds. With her final stop completed, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to internalize the silence and find some semblance of peace in it. She was so emotionally exhausted from the events of the past six hours. First there had been the mission and her attempts to throw the enemies off guard and monitor her friends, then the events in the weapons room, followed by an intense half hour of sneaking around the Cave and fixing the emotional trauma she had accidentally inflicted on everyone. At least M'gann had been in the medically induced coma—the Martian's own psychic abilities would have made this infinitely harder to explain.

But now everyone was fixed—and they didn't really know what had happened. She had seen Artemis, Zatanna, Raquel, and Donna being sad in the kitchen over ice cream, but they had just insisted it was 'female things' and invited her to join them. She had agreed for long enough to put their heads back together and then gone off to find the boys.

Several almost-encounters later, she had managed to ensure that everyone who had been in the Mountain during her outburst was fine.

"Eve."

"Holy fucking shit!" An expletive flew out of her throat as her eyes shot open. Batman was standing in front of her, doing his whole "tall-dark-and-_unbelievably-_silent" schtick. "What the hell do you want?"

She couldn't tell if his frown deepened because of her language or her condition. "I'd like you to educate the Team about other universes. While you claim that this world is temporarily blocked off from outside interferences, it won't last forever. We need to be able to defend ourselves if your organization happens to be too 'busy.'" His voice turned disapproving on the last word.

"Is it too much to offer a damn 'please?'" she muttered, rubbing at her eyes. "No, no, I'll do it!" He was starting to open his mouth again. "I'll do it. Just give me a few days to put together something. I'll do a test run with the Team and try and get you a damn briefing, if that's what you want. But right now, I am really fucking tired and all I want to do is collapse and sleep for a fucking week, so get out of my face and let _me go to my fucking bed._ The one that you're being _so_ generous in providing, as you were _probably_ going to remind me. So is that it?"

She'd swear that if the night-themed denizen glared any longer, he would develop heat vision.

"Yes," he said gruffly. He turned around and swept towards the end of the hall. "You might want to remember that your options are either here or in a prison cell into you have the capabilities to leave this Earth. I would remind you to be very careful in your actions toward any members of this Team, but I don't really think you need to hear me spell out the warning." With those final ominous words, he left her alone.

Alone, and finally able to stagger down the hall, punch in the code for her room, and cry herself to sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Um…hi. **

**So…Not Dead.**

**I know it has been a very, very long time since I posted a chapter, and you have my sympathies. And several very sincere apologies. I'll try not to take that long again, but I make no promises. Life is walloping me and I have to rewrite the next arc for this, as well as focus on my top priority, which happens to be ATDL.**

**At this point, several of you are probably itching to tell me, "But Sroloc, WTF happened in this chapter? You totally got Nightwalker's backstory wrong!" Well, you would be right, but the truth is no, no I didn't. I'm currently working on rewriting my first story right now, and it has changed. But everything that happened this chapter is true to the changed versions of events, and will be corroborated and expanded upon in the rewrite. Which will be up once it is finished. Which…could take a while…**

**And Oh Yeah.**

*IMPORTANT NOTICE! IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTE, PLEASE READ THIS!*

**Next chapter will be Eve presenting the briefing to the team, aka my attempt to explain all of my weird little pseudo-science headcanons and the way I organize various universes. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, AT ALL, ABOUT ALTERNATE UNIVERSES/DIMENSIONS/METAVERSES/ANY OTHER CRAP I COME UP WITH, YOU NEED TO LET ME KNOW ASAP. I'll try to work as many answers as I can into the next chapter, which is basically going to be my attempt to organize my thoughts and provide a cohesive explanation for you guys. So if you have any questions? ASK ME NOW. REVIEW BOX IS RIGHT THERE.**

**And for those of you confused by the thing with Batman…that'll come back. But not for a while. Just…remember it, ok? And factor in the paranoid-billionare-who's-probably-bugged-every-room-in-the-place.**

**Speaking of which…**

**Mailbox time! (Gosh, I haven't typed that in forever.)**

**Eesanchez95: Always good to hear from you! Bit hard to decipher your review, but once I did, I cackled evilly for a while. And excellent guess on the Crime Syndicate. I actually have a plan for an arc (possibly a separate story) involving them in the immediate future.**

**Sass-mistress-lucifer: Yes, the angst. I love it. And despite what it may seem, I do have reasons for pretty much every part of Eve's personality. I don't know about the "being-on-the-run" thing, but I'll see about working something along the lines of it into the rewrite.**

**Xemidemon: Thank you! And…I really hope you feel the same way about this one…**

**Piggythelaw: Yes, throwing knives…my personal stress release. Sporks are cool. I also have a necklace I wear everyday. Hehe…angst…**

**And cats. Definitely cats.**

**REVIEW PLEASE?**


	25. The Complexities of Reality

**January 10****th**

**The Cave **

**11:42 EDT**

"Jason, we're going to be late!" Donna yelled at the door.

"Five more minutes!"

"Hurry _up!_"

"Sheesh!" The steel door slid open to reveal a disgruntled and sunglassed Jason. "What's the big deal? It's just going to be another one of Captain Atom's stupid lectures on stealth or army protocol or whatever."

"Not today." Donna grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. The former street rat tripped over his own feet, knocked off balance by her superior strength. "I heard Black Canary say that the whole Team was supposed to be there today for a guest lecturer."

"Seriously? On what?"

"I don't know, but—"

The two of them rushed into the mission room and skidded to a halt. Usually, on class days, there would be makeshift chairs and desks lined up in front of a holographic board. The board was still there, but people were perched on a ragtag assortment of comfy chairs instead.

And Eve was standing at the board.

"About time," she said, fiddling with her watch. "You're late. There we go!" The board collapsed and a holographic interface sprung up over the floor instead.

"You're—_teaching?_" To say Jason was stunned would be an understatement.

"Under protest. Batman wants you educated on interdimensional travel."

"So you'll be teaching us how to cross worlds?" Troia asked.

"Hell, no. My whole damn _job_ revolves around preventing that. I'll just be giving you a quick rundown on how the multiverse is set up, and what to do if you find yourselves sucked away. By the way, the answer is _not_ 'shoot everything in sight.' Sit down while I figure out how to make this thing work."

Jason and Donna found spots on the floor while Eve cursed and messed around with the holographic interface. Files, larger-than-life size, flashed by until resolved into a glowing grid spread out across the floor. The grid lines disappeared, and each intersection turned into what looked like a hand-sized solar system. There were a few "oohs" and M'gann reached out to touch one, surprised when it reacted by bobbing away.

"Don't do that." Eve didn't even look up.

"Sorry!" M'gann immediately pulled her hand back and stared as the small worlds changed position from a rigid grid to far more spaced out and loose. Glowing Greek letters appeared on each one.

"Bottom up or top down?" Eve mused. "I think we'll start from the top. Welcome to the multiverse."

She gave a quick twist of her hand and the worlds started to rotate. "Each of these contains its own set of similar universes. They can be small—" She stopped the rotation to pull out a palm-sized cluster with three glowing letters. "And have only about six individual worlds, or…"

The diagram shifted and spun again, until a distinctly larger cluster drifted into her grasp, labeled with only a single letter. "As many as three thousand individual universes. Working down…"

She sent the diagram spinning, and then pulled out a medium-ish one, labeled with a Greek Delta. She tapped it twice, and the various spheres coalesced and resolved into an image of Earth. The image doubled, doubled again, and continued to multiply itself, until approximately fifty-two earths were spaced out like a solar system. One, larger earth sat dead center while the rest surrounded it. All of them were labeled with a Delta and a number.

Eve tapped one that sat a few lines away from the main Earth, labeled with a 16.

"This is you guys. Home sweet home, earth Delta-16."

"How did the name come about?" Kaldur asked, curious.

Eve shrugged. "Every metaverse is labeled by a Greek letter. The number is just the order we got to you guys in."

"So, what's the big one in the center?" Wally asked, leaning forward.

"_That_ is New Delta. It's the original world in this metaverse, and one of the best-established ones. It's where we get most of our information, since it's set a few years ahead of you guys and they have extensive records."

"What are the differences?" Dick asked.

"Well, like I said, it's in your future, and I don't want to give spoilers. But it's pretty similar, honestly. Except for one thing, all you guys are much older. Um…well, Kal, you aren't Aqualad there. Garth is."

"Really?" Garth asked.

"Yeah. Well, you were, and then you died, and you got resurrected as a zombie, and…well, I'm going to shut up now since you're all staring at me like that."

The expressions ranged from horrified to nauseated to fascinated.

"Zombies?" Jason asked eagerly.

"I'm not talking about it."

"Please?"

"_No!"_

"Darn…"

"So where was I?" Eve shook her head. "Right. So the big one's New Delta. From there, the worlds are organized by similarities. So the farther away you get, the more radically different the worlds are."

"Like?" M'gann asked.

Eve spun the entire diagram, which made the rest of them dizzy, and stopped it by planting her finger on a yellow world with a number 30 on it, located fairly close to the edge. "Like, here Superman's ship came down in the Soviet Union and he fights for Communism."

"_What?_" Conner, perhaps not so surprisingly, spoke up.

"Yeah, I know, it's very weird. But probably the weirdest is…here." She dragged the diagram around a bit more and pointed at another one that was a mix of yellow and green. "Earth 26. Populated by anthropomorphic animals. Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew."

"Hey, I used to watch that TV show!" Artemis spoke up. "You're telling me that was real?"

"Really? Well, yeah, it's real. Herald was the one who covered that world, and he told me that he was locked in a cage while they spent two hours trying to decide what kind of monkey he was. We try and avoid that world now."

That garnered some chuckles, until Zatanna pointed at one marked Delta-3, which was red. "What about this one?"

Eve's face shuttered, and she made a twist with her hands that pulled all the worlds back into the main one. "Earth-3. Ruled by the Crime Syndicate. Evil versions of the heroes here."

"So, what, we're evil there?" Wally asked.

Eve didn't answer.

"Oh…"

"Anyway, there are all sorts of different worlds," the woman said, continuing with her lecture. "But world isn't exactly the bottom level of organization." She zoomed in on sixteen, and made it bigger. Inside, it was structured in concentric circles. "Within every world there are parallel universes, which aren't exactly the same, but they're too similar to split off on their own yet. So you've got Earth 16, Earth 16.5, Earth 16.3, et cetera, et cetera. Worlds where only one or two things are different. Like that incident with Klarion you told me about, when the worlds split, he didn't make a whole new universe, or even a singular parallel. He just made a new dimension in this universe."

"So, what's the difference between a dimension and a parallel universe?" Wally asked.

"Size, mostly. Dimensions—well, you've heard of pocket dimensions. And before you ask, I know nothing about string theory or any of the other science bits. I just put down what I observe and don't ask why. Dimensions are smaller, and sometimes…just fragmented bits, stories half-told, worlds that never grew. Parallels are distinct enough to contain an entire universe."

"Does every choice you make create a new universe where it went differently?" Kaldur inquired.

"Honestly, that theory is complete and utter BS. Sorry, but no tiny insignificant decision you make will change the course of history. There are points—a friend of mine calls them 'fixed points'—that can determine the fate of universes. If those deviate, they can and sometimes do create new universes. When time travel comes into it, though, it can seriously screw it up, because if you alter a fixed point that already happened, it destroys the world it happened in and any worlds that happened as a result. Just smushes 'em together and mixes them all up beyond utter recognition."

Donna examined one of the circles. "And do you actually go to all those other parallels?

"No. You guys are the 'Prime' earth of this universe, so I came here. Now I've got a fairly accurate barometer for info on other Earth-16's, but I'm not going to actually go to every single one of them."

"What does our being the 'Prime' earth entail?"

"Well, for one thing you guys are the center. You're also going to be the ones most affected by an extra-dimensional stuff—sorry about that—meaning that anyone invading or attacking will come here first, rather than going to one of the other 16's. For another, what happens _here_ could potentially affect all the other parallels. All new parallels will be a direct result of events here. And if you guys ever went _kablooie…_you'd probably take the rest down with you."

Several stunned faces blinked back at the lecturer. Eve reminded herself that laughing would be a very bad thing, and waved one hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Relax, it's nothing you could cause. Just like…total universal erasure. Which is statistically very, very improbable. You'd need a reality bomb or something. Of course, that would also destroy this entire metaverse. Forget I said anything."

That seemed to at least snap them out of it.

"But seriously, you don't need to worry. Barring that highly improbable event, there will always be a version of you guys around somewhere. Any last questions?"

"How big is your organization, and do you work with anyone else?" _Of course it would be Robin who asked that. Bats probably told him to watch me._

"Fairly small, honestly. We've got a grand total of three members and several people who contribute when time allows. Fairly large metaverses tend to have their own teams, just like we stick primarily to Delta. Mu's got the Exiles, just as an example. And believe me, they're welcome to it. Mu's a shitstorm on good days. We haul in random scientists who agree to look over some of the tech we pick up just to make sure it's safe to dismantle, blow up, or otherwise get rid of. And that's really all I can tell you without going into classified specifics."

"Who were those two that came with you during the Frost Giant incident?" Artemis asked, twirling the arrow pendant that she'd been wearing ever since New Year's.

"Herald and Hotspot. Herald's one of the other members, and Hotspot's from his home universe. He agreed to help out. Okay, part two: what happens if you wind up getting sucked away**."**

She banished the screens with a wave of her hands. "One: _don't be conspicuous._ Stay as under the radar as possible. If you wind up running into other versions of you, which is definitely possible, get the alternate-reality thing cleared up ASAP. Trust me, you really don't want to be thought of as a shapeshifter or enemy. If they ask for a designation, just tell them Earth-16. If you wind up in a parallel, then you really don't need to even say that. But since it might be a wee bit difficult to prove something like that, it really would be better to just stay out of sight. Getting back home—it really depends on how you got there. If you fell through an access point, we'll know, and we'll be able to send someone to pick you up. If it's magic—it depends on how well you know the spell. Zatanna, you need to know where and how far you're going for a teleportation spell, right?"

"Hmm?" the magician looked up from where she'd been doodling on a scrap of paper. "Oh, yeah. And even then, teleporting burns a lot of energy. I've never tried to teleport between universes before, but I've gone to pocket dimensions a few times."

Eve nodded. "So magic might be a risky option. Try and figure out where you are if you're going to hop between universes. If you got there through some kind of machine—do NOT, under _any_ circumstances, try to operate it if you _don't fucking know how it works._ Trust me, that is a shitty idea. Last time we had to deal with someone screwing around with a dimension-jumping machine, they almost tore a hole straight through reality. I'd really rather avoid that. And if none of that's available…weird as it sounds, we do have a hotline. I'll get a friend to program it into your computers once the Void realigns."

"And why can't you just tell us yourself?" Jason asked.

"Because it's linked to their computer system, a part I don't have access to, and have absolutely no hope of hacking." Eve studied the diagram one last time before twisting both hands in an inward motion to shrink it back to its original size. "Any more questions? No? Class dismissed. There won't be a test."

* * *

It took about ten minutes for the room to empty, and another twenty for Eve to make the edits to the file she had originally created to include the other information that she had included in the presentation, but she was finally done.

_A complete how-to on how the multiverse works plus proper etiquette on how not to get yourself killed or cause extra paperwork. O would be proud. I wonder if I can get her to put this on the website?_

_Do we have a website?_

_Note to self: make a website._

"Nightwalker."

Eve nearly jumped out of her skin. "Fucking _shit!_" she hissed, spinning around. "Will you _quit_ that, you emotionally constipated asshole!"

The Bat-glare leveled at her was definitely impressive. "I assume you've finished by now."

The woman yanked the USB with the file on it out of the port she had found and held it out, resisting the urge to throw it at Batman's head. "All yours. Feel free to add it to your oh-so-extensive-files." Her voice was polite and chillingly cold. "I trust I've satisfied your request?"

"We'll see." He swept the small memory stick out of his hand, presumably to vanish into some depth of his utility belt. "For now, I'd just like to inform you that barring further events or missions, your access to the Cave's exits has been severely curtailed."

"What?" The word exploded out of her, and Eve stared at the black-clad man, bile rising in her throat. _No. Nononononono, he can't do this to me, I have to get _out_ of here, I have to go, why is this happening?_

"You will be permitted to travel within a five-mile radius of the Cave as long as you are accompanied by another Team member or Leaguer. Any solo unannounced expeditions will be met with further restrictions. In addition, you will be closely monitored on missions and during training until further notice."

_This can't be happening. This can't be happening. I can't be trapped, I won't be trapped, not again…why is this…wait a minute…_

"And let me guess, you're banning me from the weapons room as well?" she hissed. "I cannot _believe_ you, you fucking _asshole._ That was a _private fucking conversation._ It was a goddamned _therapy session._ What the absolute _fuck._ I am a legal fucking adult, what the _fuck _gives you the right to invade my privacy and breach confidentiality you _fiul_ _nelegitim_ _de_ _o curvă_ _și_ _un_ _mincinos__._"

His face remained impassive. "You admitted to a history of mental illness and murder, including the counterpart of your own teammate with a distinct lack of remorse. You've demonstrated that you posess lethal training and an enormous amount of raw, uncontrolled power. If you were being tried for your crimes, you could be locked up in Belle Reve in a heartbeat. After all, you're a _legal adult._"

"You. Have. No. Right." Every word was dragged out from between clenched teeth`.

"We both know forgery isn't that hard. Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don't trust you. I don't trust you around my partners or any of the other juveniles here. I am going to be watching you very closely, and if you give me the slightest cause to think that you intend harm or injury to anyone you associate with, I will ensure you spend the rest of your time here in a prison cell. Watch yourself."

And with that, the intimidating figure spun and swept out of the room, leaving behind a standing figure who slumped in broken defeat.

The fists at her side unclenched as tears trickled down her cheeks.

* * *

**Whoo! I didn't think I'd get this out tonight. But I did!**

**And it has been over a month and I am very sorry...**

**I don't know if anyone's still reading this, but if you are, and you made it this far, thank you so much for sticking with this story. I really, truly appreciate it.**

**So this chapter was basically for me to get all the multi/meta/universe stuff off my chest. If you're still confused about any of it, please let me know.**

**Quick clarifier: Delta=DC, Mu=Marvel. The Exiles are a real team, if not a well-known one. And the Marvel multiverse is such a mess to deal with that I didn't even want to go into it.**

**The Batman conversation comes back. He did indeed find out about the impromptu therapy session, and immediately jumped the wrong way and classified Eve as a major threat. Which she could be. It's not like he said anything untrue.**

_fiul_ _nelegitim_ _de_ _o curvă_ _și_ _un_ _mincinos=_**misbegotten son of a whore and a liar.**

**So anyway, I have one more setup chapter to write, and then I FINALLY get to move into the next arc. Eesanchez, you know which one that is. It really won't feature Nightwalker very much at all.**

**So, anyway...**

**REVIEW, PLEASE?**


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